How do I check the version of python a module supports?

Question

I was wondering if there is a generic way to find out if your version of python is supported by a specific module?

For example, let us say that I have python 3.11 installed on my computer and I want to install the modules biopython and lru-dict. Going to their respective pypi entries biopython shows this in their Project description:

Python Requirements

We currently recommend using Python 3.10 from http://www.python.org

Biopython is currently supported and tested on the following Python implementations:

Python 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.10 and 3.11 – see http://www.python.org

PyPy3.7 v7.3.5 – or later, see http://www.pypy.org

However, if we check the lru-dict entry, their Project description does not mention Python requirements. I did eventually find out that python 3.11 is not supported by finding a issue on their github page.

Is there a simpler way of finding this information out?

Answer 1

If you go to the https://pypi.org/pypi/PACKAGE_NAME/json address, you will receive complete information about Python PACKAGE_NAME in JSON format. For example, to view information about lru-dict open https://pypi.org/pypi/lru-dict/json link, Then you can extract the necessary information from it.

To see the Python version that PACKAGE_NAME is supported, I wrote this code, I hope it suits you.

import json
import pprint
from urllib import request

package_name = 'lru-dict'

with request.urlopen(f'https://pypi.org/pypi/{package_name}/json') as response:
    data = json.loads(response.read())
    pprint.pprint(data['info']['classifiers'])

Output:

 ['Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable',
 'Intended Audience :: Developers',
 'License :: OSI Approved :: MIT License',
 'Operating System :: OS Independent',
 'Operating System :: POSIX',
 'Programming Language :: C',
 'Programming Language :: Python :: 2',
 'Programming Language :: Python :: 3',
 'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10',
 'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.6',
 'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7',
 'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8',
 'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9',
 'Programming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: CPython',
 'Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python Modules']

In addition to viewing the supported Python version, you can also get other information such as the Python version required for each release, package description, author's name, etc.

Answer 2

No, there is no generic way.

If the library has tests you can run them and check, but it might give you false positives as well as false negatives :shrug:

The lru-dict has this fragment in their setup.py, which is one of the places you can check for supported versions:

        'Programming Language :: C',
        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3',
        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7',
        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8',
        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9',
        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10',
        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11',
        'Programming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: CPython',

So as you can see, I don't think they knew about the issue.