Which Python should I learn?

[Skreedles]

I'm thinking about learning Python I'm wondering which one I should learn 3.x or 2.x?

[Tycho]

depends https://wiki.python.org/moin/Python2orPython3

[Skreedles]

Just now, Tycho said:

depends https://wiki.python.org/moin/Python2orPython3

...I saw that I was asking for opinions.

[Tycho]

1 minute ago, Skreedles said:

...I saw that I was asking for opinions.

What do you want to do with it?

[Nuluvius]

You should always start with the latest technology (within reason). Go for the newest specification.

[RedWulf]

alot of it goes both ways with minor syntax changed, so either way you learn abit of both, but personally I dwell in 3 the most

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print 'Hello World'

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print('Hello World')

 

[Skreedles]

4 hours ago, Nuluvius said:

You should always start with the latest technology (within reason). Go for the newest specification.

Soooooo, 3?

 

[fizzlesticks]

4 minutes ago, Skreedles said:

Soooooo, 3?

 

Yes. 3.5.1 to be exact.

[Gachr]

I think the third one is a better option, but Python itself might not be the best one for you.

[Beskamir]

Python 2 is being phased out with most of the libraries having already been converted to Python 3 so I'd suggest learning Python 3 unless you know that a library you will be working with does not yet have a Python 3 version. Although that would be rather unlikely and converting from one language to another is really easy so if you ever end up needing to use Python 2, it'd only take a few minutes to convert to it.

[Azgoth 2]

Do you already know that you will specifically need a library that is only compatible with Python 2, and you can't reasonably work around needing it?  Do you already know that you'll be doing most of your Python in a legacy or restricted environment (e.g., company computer) that only uses Python 2?  Do you already know that you'll be working largely with old code bases written in Python 2?

 

If yes to any of those, go with Python 2.  It's still commonly used in a lot of more industry-oriented cases because of the Python Software Foundation's decision to keep supporting Python 2 rather than trying to force a migration to Python 3 (this led to a sort of split among Python users).  Python 2 has only seen bug fixes and basic maintenance ever since 2.7 was released; no new features have been added in years.  But, if you know you'll be dealing with Python 2, then go with that.

 

In all other cases, Python 3.  It's where the active development is--new features being added, updates to more than just bug fixes and general housecleaning, etc.  It also cleans up some quirks of Python 2 and makes the language a bit more uniform.  Plus, pretty much every useful library has been ported to Python 3, with the exception of working for a company or on a code base that's still exclusively Python 2, there's not much reason to use the older version.

[Nineshadow]

Python 3 definitely.