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Why won't you switch to Python 3.x?

I see there are already a lot of duplicate questions asking whether or not new Python programmers should learn 2 or 3. I am not asking that question.

I am already a Python 2 programmer. I started tinkering with it some years ago. I started using it almost exclusively for my personal projects about a year ago. I even recently switched from a PHP job to a Python job. However, all this has been with Python 2.

Python 3 is out now, and I know that is is not backwards compatible with 2, although it is similar. I don't think I'm going to have any problem learning Python 3. However, I am going to have a problem transitioning old code, if it becomes necessary. Also, if development efforts move from Python 2 to 3, I can't be stuck developing on a deprecated platform.

It seems that for the moment, Python 2 is still going strong, and there isn't really any push to transition to 3. That can't last forever, though. When should I start to make a move?

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This IS a dupe: stackoverflow.com/questions/766636/…, question id 766636 –  Paolo Bergantino May 27 '09 at 21:00
It's not a dupe. That other question is asking why NOT to switch. I'm assuming the switch is going to happen, and I want to know WHEN. The answers to that other question are not helpful to me. –  Apreche May 27 '09 at 21:10
That's asking the same thing in different ways. As the other question states, too many libraries are not supporting py3, including the most popular framework (Django) - so you could take from that it's a good idea to move over when the library/framework support for py3 is better. –  Paolo Bergantino May 27 '09 at 21:16
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marked as duplicate by Paolo Bergantino, Ólafur Waage, jeffamaphone, Alex Martelli, postfuturist May 27 '09 at 21:05


2 Answers

The best answer I can give you is change when you need to. If you have no need for Python 3, then don't switch. If you aren't sure if you need to switch, chances are that you don't.

That said, once Python 3 becomes the more widely used version (in a few years, not anytime soon), you'll probably want to switch just because it will be more supported (more libraries, etc).

If you don't have any Python 2-specific libraries, you could write new projects in Python 3 just to ease the transition, but you don't need to at this point.

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If you can switch now, you might as well. Learning the newest will always help in the future.

Being that you have been using 2, then there is no concern that you won't know how to use that.

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