Installing Python3.6 alongside Python3.7 on Mac

Question

I'm trying to install tensorflow onto a Mac with Python3.7. However, I'm getting the error:

$ pip3 -v install tensorflow ...         Skipping link https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/56/7a/c6bca0fe52a94ca508731d8b139e7dbd5a36cddc64c19f422f97e5a853e8/tensorflow-1.10.0rc1-cp36-cp36m-win_amd64.whl#sha256=3ab24374888d6a13d55ce2e3cf4ba0c9cd6f824723313db5322512087525cb78 (from https://pypi.org/simple/tensorflow/); it is not compatible with this Python   Could not find a version that satisfies the requirement tensorflow (from versions: ) Cleaning up... Removed build tracker '/private/var/folders/4n/9342s4wd3jv0qzwjz8rxrygr0000gp/T/pip-req-tracker-3p60r2lo'  No matching distribution found for tensorflow 

From what I can gather this is happening because tensorflow doesn't yet support Python3.7. As a workaround I want to install Python3.6 alongside 3.7 and then install tensorflow to that version. However, I'm new to Mac and not sure of the correct way to do this without potentially messing with the preexisting Python version.

I've tried using brew, but it looks like Python3 is as specific as it gets. What is the correct way to do what I'm after?

Answer 1

Try using brew for example if already using Python 3:

$ brew unlink python 

Then install python 3.6.5:

$ brew install --ignore-dependencies https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/f2a764ef944b1080be64bd88dca9a1d80130c558/Formula/python.rb 

To get back to python 3.7.4_1 use:

$ brew switch python 3.7.4_1 

And if need 3.6 again switch with:

$ brew switch python 3.6.5_1