Will Python 3 ever catch on?

Question

I have been learning a bit of Python 2 and Python 3 and it seems like Python 2 is overall better than Python 3. So that\'s where my question comes in. Are there any good reasons

Answer 1

As other answers mention, the only real (and crucial) current advantage of Python 2 over Python 3 is that the former already has a huge wealth of third-party extensions (and auxiliary tools, such as IDEs and the like), which the latter is only gradually moving towards. This is a situation that's gradually improving, as existing extensions are ported to support Python 3; sooner or later somebody will release a Py3-only extension or tool that's important to you, and that might tip you over to actually using Py3 for a new project (and that will happen for many different values of "you";-).

Python core development has mostly shifted to the Python 3 area -- while Python 2.7 will be out soon, I'm not sure how many future important enhancements, if any, will keep getting backported to Python 2 versions. In particular, I doubt that Unladen Swallow will be -- if that's the case, then at some point CPython 3 will gain an important speed advantage over CPython 2, which will be the tipping-over factor for other new projects (and ports of existing projects) yet.

Not sure what gives you the impression that "Python 2 is over all better than Python 3", in terms, of course, of just "Python proper", i.e., the parts that the Python Software Foundation is releasing (core code, libraries, docs...): I strongly disagree with this assessment. Python 3 is better in terms of simplicity (cruft removal) and in having a few features that enable future third-party extensions and tools (such as better metaclass interaction, and syntax for parameter annoutation); I cannot find, in fact, any advantages for Python 2 in terms of "Python proper". The "ecosystem" around Python, as already discussed, is another thing, but that's already progressing (at its own pace, of course, which is definitely not under the control of the Python Software Foundation, but rather of many external groups of developers and a few firms).

For example, PyQt is already available for Python 3 (as well as 2), and you can use PostgreSQL (a splendid open-source SQL database engine, much more standard than MySql) via py-postgresql. So, if the third party extensions you're pining for are (say) wxpython and mysqldb, perhaps you can try these alternatives (I'm biased, of course, since I've long preferred Qt to wxWidgets, and PostgreSQL to MySQL, on purely technical grounds -- but the prompt porting of the related Python extensions to Python 3 does also hint that these extensions are being more actively and vigorously developed, so that might be another nudge to try them;-).