So, what's the real story on Python 2 vs Python 3?

[Grant Edwards]

On 2013-12-27, Andrew Berg <robotsondrugs at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 2013.12.26 23:04, Travis McGee wrote:
>> The Python.org site says that the future is Python 3, yet whenever I try 
>> something new in Python, such as Tkinter which I am learning now, 
>> everything seems to default to Python 2. By this I mean that, whenever I 
>> find that I need to install another package, it shows up as Python 2 
>> unless I explicitly specify Python 3.
>> 
>> What's the deal? If I want to make a distributable software package, 
>> should it be 2 or 3? Enquiring minds want to know.
>
> Oh boy, another 2 vs. 3 thread!
>
> Always use 3 unless you absolutely have to use 2. Python 3 is not a
> shiny new thing. It is *five* years old at this point

<Insert crotchety-old-guy story about how something five years old
most certainly is still a "shiney new thing" here>

While Python 3 may not be shiney and new, the Python 3 support in some
third-party packages and libraries is still shiney and new at best,
and missing at worst.  The situation is improving steadily, and while
I do try to write new code work with both 2.7 and 3.x, I still use 2.7
for my day-to-day work.

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