There are still many tutorials and resources online that are written for Python 2 rather than the newer Python 3 – So, which should you be using?
The short answer is below:
Python 3.
Why You Should Use Python 3
Python 3 is better in every way. It is a major revision that was released almost a decade after Python 2. The smart people who build programming languages probably learned a lot of lessons in that time. The syntax in Python 3 is more consistent and more secure.
Python 3 is still actively developed. New functions are added, improvements are made, new 3rd party packages are released. None of this can be said for Python 2.
Why You Shouldn’t use Python 2
Python 2 reached its end of life in 2020 – and that’s after it was postponed from being discontinued in 2015. It’s had its day. So stop writing code for it.
Yes, there is still a lot of material online that’s really useful and written for the older version of Python, but that doesn’t mean you should use it. You can take all of the concepts explained in these articles – application structure, programming concepts – and apply them to Python 3. All it usually requires is a bit of syntax tweaking.
Python 3 now ships as the default Python version in many Linux operating systems – so if you aren’t using it, now’s the time to start. Don’t get left behind!
