Newb question about %02d %04d

[nilamo]

Well I've got a question about python 3 already. Why did they switch to having a parenthesis if you want to print a string? In python to you didn't have to have parenthesis.

Because it makes sense for it to be a function, instead of a magic statement. One of the core ideas of python is that it's clean and legible, and magic statements are neither clean nor legible. It's also the only statement in the language which caused side effects. And because it was a statement, you couldn't use it everywhere (like in lambdas, or lists).