with statement - backport for Python 2.5

Question

I'd like to use with statement in Python 2.5 in some production code. It was backported, should I expect any problems (e.g. with availability/compatibility on other machines/etc)?

Is this code

from __future__ import with_statement

compatible with Python 2.6?

Answer 1

Yes, that statement is a no-operation in Python 2.6, so you can freely use it to make with a keyword in your 2.5 code as well, without affecting your code's operation in 2.6. This is in fact the general design intention of "importing from the future" in Python!

Answer 2

You can call this in Python 2.6 and 3.0/1 without problems (it's a no-op there).