If you’re writing new programs in Python, you might be interested in starting to use Python 3. The developers have set 2020 as the final year for Python 2 support, and everyone will need to transition their programs over to Python 3 by then. Unfortunately, Python 2 isn’t going to be around forever. It’s true that utilities like 2to3 make it easier to transform a Python 2 program into valid Python 3 syntax, but if you’ve ever used Google Translate, you know this won’t be perfect.

With the significant differences between the two versions and the work required to convert from 2 to 3, it’s hard to find strong reasons to move Python 2 apps to Python 3. Plus, Python 2.7.10 is pre-installed on all Macs and a number of Linux distros. Python 2 is a strong language, and only power users will get to experience the full benefit of Python 3’s new features. You can check out a list of the most significant changes on the Python 3.0 documentation.īut why hasn’t the whole world switched over to Python 3? The main problem is that there’s a lack of compelling motivation. Even fundamental commands like print and integer comparison work differently between Python 2 and 3, complicating the process of moving from one language to another. That means that programs written for a Python 2 interpreter won’t run on a Python 3 interpreter. It’s not backwards compatible with Python 2. However, alongside those new features, Python 3 also has a problem. They wouldn’t be totally wrong: Python 3 includes some cool new features that Python 2 lacks. It’s natural think that Python 3 is better because it’s newer.

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