which Python ? asks beginner

[Simon Brunning]

On Nov 17, 2007 6:20 PM,  <Dave at bag.python.org> wrote:
> Have given up Java. Want to switch to Python.

Welcome!

> But _which_ ?
> There is ver :
>      2.5  out now
>      2.6  in beta , final expected Apr 2008

You should go for 2.5.1 unless you have a reason to stick to an older
version. (Such reasons might include your hosting company's Python
version, your employer's preferred version, and so on.)

2.6 isn't even in beta yet AFAIK. When it is, you should be able to
upgrade to it with nothing more than a few warning messages at worst.
At least, that's always been my experience.

>      3.0   ? in alpha or beta
>      3.0 final expected Sep 2008 ?

Py3k is still in fairly early alpha, and is strictly for Python
developers at the moment. Even when it goes final, I wouldn't want to
use it in production for a while. So, unless you just want something
to play with, steer clear.

It'll be an exception to the just-works upgrade that we've been used
to in the past, but plans are afoot to make upgrading possible.

-- 
Cheers,
Simon B.
simon at brunningonline.net
http://www.brunningonline.net/simon/blog/
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