Error installing howdoi about howdoi

[CamiloMM]

Install Python 2.7 (yes, a syntax error because you're _not_ using an old version). I had the same issue :)

In other news, how come a language's syntax can not be backward-compatible? As a C# and Javascript guy, any arbitrary piece of C# 1.1 is almost certainly valid as C# 4 code, and with Javascript is of course the same thing.

[gkb]

This is helpful. Thanks for letting me know.

In other news, how come a language's syntax can not be backward-compatible? As a C# and Javascript guy, any arbitrary piece of C# 1.1 is almost certainly valid as C# 4 code, and with Javascript is of course the same thing.

:)

[gleitz]

Glad you got it working, gkb. Currently Python <= 2.7 is required.

CamiloMM - many languages evolve by deprecating features and then retiring them a few versions down the road. Python 3 developers made the decision to make many breaking changes from Python 2 that will hopefully improve the language. AFAIK backwards-compatibility is the exception, not the norm.

Javascript has had numerous non-backwards compatible changes. There are also a number of features that developers would like to see removed from C#.

[CamiloMM]

@gleitz In the case of Javascript, no good developer uses these features (except maybe eval(), like in json2 by Crockford). In the case of C# - the features mentioned are mostly things you can just ignore and move on. Still, they are quite nit-picked, and note that it's mostly Eric Lippert speaking, he knows every nook and cranny. Also, if you use StyleCop (I do), it tells you of any coding problems so you can generally avoid smelly code.