Which version of Python should be used?

Question

I'm starting a new Python web project. With most frameworks, everyone rushes to the latest version, however, it seems that this is not as true for Python 3.x.

Which version of Python should brand new projects use?

Answer 1

A lot of 3rd party Python modules still require Python 2.x (numpy, scipy for example). If you will use any of those, or if you don't yet know what modules you need and want to keep your options open then stick with Python 2.x for now.

If you know that all the modules you need work with Python 3.x then go with that.

Answer 2

for a web project, chose the python version that is supported by your hosting provider.

if you are lucky to have a dedicated server, then chose whatever version is best supported by the framework you chose. python 3 is still not supported by the major web framework, so python 2.6 seems the best choice.

if your project is hosted on a shared host, you will have to stick with the python version installed on the host (personally, i am stuck with python 2.4.4, hoping my hosting provider will upgrade to 2.5 or 2.6, which will not come anytime soon)