Python 2 vs Python 3

[Joegeddon]

I was wondering which version would be the best to learn. I took a computing science course at a National 5 level (GCSE equivalent) and in the class I learned how to use Python 2.7. I just wanted to know what are the differences between Python 2 and 3 and should I switch to Python 3?

[manikyath]

honestly, coming from a python 2 fanboy.. its been long enough, its time to let  python 2 go and look towards python 3.

[NJHourigan]

The only difference I've noticed when following python 2 tutorials and making them in python 3 is having to change the syntax of a print statement. I know there must be more but I'm doing it at a level, just after GCSE and I haven't found anything else yet so for your level it should be fine.

[Joegeddon]

1 minute ago, manikyath said:

honestly, coming from a python 2 fanboy.. its been long enough, its time to let  python 2 go and look towards python 3.

What are the differences? Is it just changes in how certain tasks are written in code?

[mattonfire]

8 minutes ago, Joegeddon said:

I was wondering which version would be the best to learn. I took a computing science course at a National 5 level (GCSE equivalent) and in the class I learned how to use Python 2.7. I just wanted to know what are the differences between Python 2 and 3 and should I switch to Python 3?

I believe Python 3 has more features compared to Python 2.

[manikyath]

3 minutes ago, Joegeddon said:

What are the differences? Is it just changes in how certain tasks are written in code?

they actually have an article on that:

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

 

the article is a bit old by now, as actually most linux distros have moved to 3 by default.

 

if i have to name one thing that i really need to adapt to in 3 is that you need to use str() and int() casts, but thats something i can live with

2 minutes ago, mattonfire said:

I believe Python 3 has more features compared to Python 2.

not really so, its basicly just a "lets just screw backwards compatibility and make this mess at least somewhat optimized"

 

last time someone "benchmarked" programming languages python 2 was several times slower to execute than the resource hog that is java.

[Beskamir]

I learned Python2 first and there are things about Python3 which annoyed me when I was switching over but I'd recommend learning Python3 if you're just starting out. Unless you know that the libraries you will be working with will only have a Python2 version.

 

As for any differences, it's mainly just slightly different syntax.

Example Python2 the brackets for printing stuff are optional while Python3 requires them.

[AlTech]

On ‎6‎/‎3‎/‎2016 at 6:31 AM, Joegeddon said:

I was wondering which version would be the best to learn. I took a computing science course at a National 5 level (GCSE equivalent) and in the class I learned how to use Python 2.7. I just wanted to know what are the differences between Python 2 and 3 and should I switch to Python 3?

Python 3.

 

It's more modern and will actually still be used in like 5 years. Can't say the same about 2.x

[Nuluvius]

On 02/06/2016 at 11:31 PM, Joegeddon said:

I was wondering which version would be the best to learn.

One should always start with the most recent technology (within reason). Your instincts should be telling you that much at least.

[Joegeddon]

8 hours ago, Nuluvius said:

One should always start with the most recent technology (within reason). Your instincts should be telling you that much at least.

Everything I've learned so far has been in Python 2.7. It's only a high school computing science course though.

[Nuluvius]

14 minutes ago, Joegeddon said:

It's only a high school computing science course though.

What do you mean by that exactly?

[LukaP]

5 hours ago, Joegeddon said:

Everything I've learned so far has been in Python 2.7. It's only a high school computing science course though.

Dont worry, the syntax is almost the same, apart from the print statement/function. But you do get more features (iirc 2.7 is the last python 2), guaranteed working on most systems that arent windows (linux and OSX come with python 3.4), and (not sure if my memory serves me right on this) faster exectution.

[rm -rf]

On 3 June 2016 at 8:31 AM, Joegeddon said:

I was wondering which version would be the best to learn. I took a computing science course at a National 5 level (GCSE equivalent) and in the class I learned how to use Python 2.7. I just wanted to know what are the differences between Python 2 and 3 and should I switch to Python 3?

Python 3 is the better one to learn, it's more similar to bigger languages like C++ with slightly stricter syntax.