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Python 2 Or Python 3? Which Should I Begin With?

I found two 'duplicate' questions, but considering they're about two years old, I figured it might be a good idea to see a more recent opinion. I want to learn Python, but I don't

Solution 1:

There are few differences, but they are quite significant (strings vs bytes mostly).

If you wish to mess around, go for Python 3. If you wish to get something done, use Python 2.(7). There are few libraries that currently support Py3.

Solution 2:

Really depends on what you want to do. Are the 3rd party libs you need available in python 3?

The python wiki has a summary of some of the other differences.

http://wiki.python.org/moin/Python2orPython3

Solution 3:

Library support for py3k was poor in the first two years after its release, but the most important libraries (NumPy, SciPy, and a host of others) now have 3.x-compatible stable releases, and everybody else is working towards that point. The 2.x branch isn't going to be receiving much in the way of major updates, and most people agree that 3.x has a lot of advantages. So unless you have a particular code base you want to work with that is 2.x-only or you really need JIT performance (Psyco, PyPy, etc) in the near term, I'd focus on 3.x.

A helpful article about the transition is at lwn; though much of that will be unnecessary technical detail at this point, the descriptions and comments about the transition process are on target.

Solution 4:

I would say to learn Python-3.x while you can, especially if you plan to develop applications later on. The two are not drastically different, but as Communist Duck said, the few differences are significant.

Solution 5:

Python 3 is just starting to move from 'toy for early adopters' to 'increasing mainstream support'. So if it's just to play around with a new language, I'd probably go for that. Python 2 still has a lot more widespread support, though.

There are certain areas that are exceptions: if you want to use web frameworks in Python (like Django), it's a Python 2 game for the foreseeable future.

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