It’s time for Python 2.7

[wglb]

http://eli.thegreenplace.net/2011/10/09/its-time-for-python-2-7/

[raymondh]

It seems like everyone is converging on 2.7. The commercial distributions from ActiveState and Enthought are at 2.7. Apple's OS/X Lion ships 2.7. The major linux distros are there. PyPy is at 2.7. Jython and IronPython are mostly 2.7 capable. And my understanding is the Google's AppEngine will be at 2.7 soon enough.

This is the Long Term Support version of Python, the one that is currently getting bug fixes and will continue to get bug fixes long into the future.

AFAICT, there are very few reasons to be using an older version of Python. By now, most of major third-party modules are working with 2.7 so there shouldn't be much holding you back.

[LeafStorm → raymondh]

> so there shouldn't be much holding you back.

Four words: Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

[sp332 → LeafStorm]

  wget http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.7/Python-2.7.tgz
  tar xvfz Python-2.7.tgz
  cd Python-2.7
  ./configure
  make
  su
  make altinstall

Note: use "make altinstall" to avoid damaging the system python.

[sneak → sp332]

If you have make or a compiler installed on a RHEL system (other than your organizational build machine), you're Doing It Wrong.

[cturner → sneak]

I install from source to /opt. It's fast and it works. What's the downside of this?

[mattyb → cturner]

I suspect sneak is implying that you should build packages on a build box, then your other servers can just grab those instead of compiling themselves. It's a good idea.

[dextorious → sneak]

If you assume you have the right/knowledge to tell ME how to use MY RHEL, you assume wrong.

[arb → LeafStorm]

And Ubuntu LTS.

[eliben → arb]

Yep, unfortunately, which is why the follow-up post (http://eli.thegreenplace.net/2011/10/10/installing-python-2-...) came. Had Ubuntu 10.04 given me Python 2.7 with the usual `apt-get install`, there would be no need to install it from source.

[Kliment]

The only thing that I miss on 2.7 is psyco. I support a somewhat popular python app in the open source world, and write a lot of python at the day job, and I usually deploy an executable with bundled python interpreter, and 2.6, because psyco does not work on 2.7, and makes a HUGE difference on 2.6

[bobbyi → Kliment]

Have you tried pypy?

[stock_toaster → bobbyi]

pypy doesn't support gevent/eventlet, as far as I know. :(

Unfortunately, psyco isn't x86_64 compatible either. So if you want to use psyco, you are "stuck" with python2.6 on x86.

[wladimir → stock_toaster]

pypy doesn't support gevent/eventlet, as far as I know. :(

Not yet, indeed. But according to their site they do have a stackless version: "PyPy can be configured to run in stackless mode, providing micro-threads for massive concurrency". This sounds promising, and could be used to implement gevent.

[Kliment → stock_toaster]

When compiling an executable, I use 32 bit 2.6, and the binaries work fine, with psyco even on 64 bit systems.

[malkia]

My exposure with Python is through Motion Builder 2012 and 2009 (Deploy for the first one, but due to asserts causing crash&exit, I develop with the 2009).

It was my first great exposure to python (I have some C, C++, lua, lisp behind me). I have to say wasn't expecting Python 2.5.2 and Python 2.6.x? (2009 and 2012 respectively) to support each other, but with "import from future" and other tricks I was able to get code working on both.

So thanks for the article, as my day job requires some more knowledge of it (but personally I do not favor python)

[mumrah]

Did not know about set and dict comprehensions - very nifty.

[dochtman]

I just wish we could stop supporting 2.4.