dev_appserver.py AssertionError (Windows)

Question

When I type "dev_appserver.py" in windows command prompt I receive:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\Users\computername\AppData\Local\Google\Cloud SDK\google-cloud-sdk\platform\google_appengine\dev_appserver.py", line 95, in
assert sys.version_info[0] == 2
AssertionError

Why is this? I can't run the program? Why would there be an assertion error. Please help! I can't run a local cloud engine server on windows currently.

For what it's worth I've tried with python 3.7, 3.8, and 2.7... all with the same issue.

Answer 1

The assert statement sys.version_info[0] == 2 means that the major version number of Python must be 2, otherwise the program will abort.

You are running the Python program with Python 3. To verify type python -V.

Install Python 2 on your system and set up the correct paths, etc. Read the documentation for your system.

Python 2.7.17 Download

Hitchhiker's Guide to Installing Python 2 on Windows

Note: Python 2 has reached its end of life. There is still a lot of software and libraries for Python 2, but be aware that most new development is for Python 3. There are many new features for Python 3 that make the transition worthwhile.

Sunsetting Python 2