It's even happened to me with python. I stepped away from programming for a while and now all the guides are about 3.8 while the version on trixie is 3.13

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 24 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (8 children)

Has python changed that much for a new learner that a 3.8 tutorial is worthless in 3.13?

I don't think so...there's new features that wouldn't be taught, but most everything from Hello World to decorators and lambdas were present in both.

Now, if you have a python 2 guide....yeah. That's worthless. That shows its flaws during "Hello World".

[–] rockSlayer@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Well the last version I was actively using was 3.6 and the shiniest new feature I remember is switch cases from 3.7, so yes it has for me

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 8 points 4 months ago

Well. Yeah, if you want to learn the shiniest new features, you'll need the shiniest new references.

But for a new user, for whom Python is probably one of the first languages they learn, a 3.8 reference won't give them much trouble for a while.

I say this as a novice Python user tho.

[–] gamma@programming.dev 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I think each of 3.8 through 3.11 were substantial, just in different ways.

[–] rockSlayer@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

I believe it! One glimpse at the latest docs tells me that every major builtin library I knew is depreciated or gone. I'm not even sure if secrets is still the correct encryption library. Honestly I might have to start fresh with Python like it's a new language

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