Python Versions: 2 vs 3 (Don’t Worry, It’s 3 Now)

Ah yes, the great Python civil war: Python 2 vs Python 3.
It’s like Coke vs Pepsi, Marvel vs DC, or tabs vs spaces — except this one actually got resolved (sort of).

Let’s talk about what the fuss was all about, and why you can relax and just pick Python 3 — no existential crisis required.

Python 2: The Grumpy Grandpa of Python

Python 2 was released back in 2000, when floppy disks were a thing and people still used Internet Explorer on purpose.

It had a good run, but...

• It was never really designed with the future in mind.
• It had some "quirks" (read: features that made you question your life choices).
• And most importantly: It reached end-of-life on January 1st, 2020.

Yes, it’s officially retired. Gone fishing.
Still exists, but shouldn’t be used — kind of like Internet Explorer.

Python 3: The Chosen One

Python 3 came out in 2008 and was basically:

“Let’s fix everything Python 2 did weird and break a few things along the way.”

It introduced:

• Better Unicode support (aka non-English text doesn’t break everything).
• A cleaner, more consistent syntax.
• Saner division (we’ll get to that).
• And a ton of quality-of-life improvements that made Python feel more like a modern language and less like a haunted typewriter.

Key Differences (aka “Why Your Old Python Script Is Screaming”)

Feature	Python 2	Python 3
print syntax	print "hello"	print("hello") ✅
Integer division	5 / 2 = 2 (surprise!)	5 / 2 = 2.5 ✅
Unicode strings	Not default	Default ✅
xrange() vs range()	xrange() faster than range()	range() is already optimized ✅
Community support	Mostly abandoned 🪦	Thriving ecosystem 🎉

Basically: Python 3 is cleaner, smarter, and doesn’t lie to you when you divide numbers.
Use Python 3. Always. Forever. (Unless you like pain.)

So... Why Was There Drama?

Because Python 3 wasn’t backward compatible, meaning your beautiful Python 2 code didn’t always work in Python 3.

Developers were like:

“You broke my script, Python. HOW COULD YOU.”

So for a while, both versions were used — like parallel universes.
But now that Python 2 is officially gone, even the old-school devs have moved on. (Well, most of them.)

How to Check Your Python Version ✅

In your terminal, run:

python --version

or

python3 --version

If you see something like Python 3.12.1, great! You’re on the right track. If you see 2.7.x, kindly uninstall it or seal it in a time capsule.