I have version Python 3.6.2 (v3.6.2:5fd33b5, Jul 8 2017, 04:57:36) [MSC v.1900 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32
why dont newer versions let me turn autocomplete and and call tips off? I don't see where the newer versions let me set these features to false
autocompletion and call tips (I guess these are parameter hints) are features of your IDE, not the language. So eventually you should look at your IDE, however I don't see any reason a developer to want to turn them off. You can always use simple text editor like that does not support any of these
Perhaps he talks about readline and rlcompleter.
# .pythonstartup
import readline
import rlcompleter
import atexit
import os
# tab completion
readline.parse_and_bind('tab: complete')
# history file
histfile = os.path.join(os.environ['HOME'], '.pythonhistory')
try:
readline.read_history_file(histfile)
except IOError:
pass
atexit.register(readline.write_history_file, histfile)
del os, histfile, readline, rlcompleter