So when should you use version 2 and when should you use the latest release, 3.4? The site says:įirstly, if you're deploying to an environment you don't control, that may impose a specific version, rather than allowing you a free selection from the available versions. Even OS X 10.10 Yosemite provides Python 2.7.x.

There are large libraries for Python 2.x and many users still need to use it, so Python 2.7.x is installed in OS X by default. As a result, the 3.x version can't be depended on to run 2.x scripts. To do this, backwards compatibility had to be compromised.

Why is Apple only providing Python 2.x?Īs the Python website says, ' Python 2.x is legacy, Python 3.x is the present and future of the language.' Briefly, in order to move forward technically as a language, the creator, Guido van Rossum, needed to make some significant internal changes. Here's a short and sweet Q&A session on what you need to know to download and install the latest version of Python (3.4.1).ġ. 'įor those who are learning Python on a Mac, it may be slightly frustrating that Apple doesn't provide the latest version, typically used when learning Python these days. Here's the new, updated article from Aug 10, 2017.

Upgrading python on mac