How to Update Python: A Simple and Straightforward Manual

Alright, y’all! If you’re looking to update that Python of yours, you’ve come to the right place. We’re gonna break it down, step-by-step, so you can take advantage of all those flashy new features, improvements, and crucial security fixes. This here guide is gonna show you how to update Python on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Checking Your Current Python Version

Before we jump into the deep end, let’s see what Python version you’re currently running.

To do this on Windows, press Win + R, type in cmd, and hit Enter. This’ll bring up the Command Line Interface. Type python --version and hit Enter. The version number will be displayed right there.

For Mac and Linux users, you’ll wanna open Terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T on Linux) and type python3 --version or python3 -V and press Enter.

Updating Python on Windows

So, you’re ready to level up that Python on your Windows machine? You’ve got three options:

1. Using the Python Installer: Head over to Python’s official website, download the installer for the version you want, and run it. Make sure you check the “Add Python to PATH” option during the installation. To verify the update, open a command prompt (cmd) and type py.exe.
2. Using the Windows Microsoft Store: Open the Microsoft Store, search for “Python,” choose your version, and click Install. After the installation, you can check if everything went well by typing py.exe in a command prompt (cmd).
3. Using Chocolatey: This is a neat package manager for Windows. Install it by running a special command in an elevated PowerShell window (you’ll find the command in the original article). After that, you can upgrade Python by running choco install python --pre. To keep Python updated in the future, simply run choco upgrade python.

Updating Python on MacOS

If you’re a Mac user, you’ve got two methods to update Python:

1. Using the Python Installer: Go to the Python.org website, download the installer for the latest version, and run it. Make sure the “Add Python to PATH” option is checked during installation. You can verify the update by typing python3 --version in Terminal.
2. Using Homebrew: This is a package manager for MacOS. To use it, make sure Homebrew is installed on your computer. In Terminal, run brew update followed by brew install python. If Python is already installed, use brew upgrade python instead.

Updating Python on Linux

To update Python on Linux, you’ll be using the APT package manager. Open a terminal window, run sudo apt-get update to update the package list, then run sudo apt-get upgrade to upgrade Python. Check the update with python --version.

FAQs

How to upgrade Python on Windows?
Go to the Python official website, download the installer for the version you want, run it, and follow the instructions. Don’t forget to check the “Add Python to PATH” option!

Can I update Python using pip?
Nope, pip is a package manager for Python libraries, not the Python interpreter itself.

How to update Python with conda?
Open your terminal or command prompt and enter conda update python. This will upgrade your Python version in your conda environment.

How can I switch from Python 2.7 to 3.6 on Linux?

Switching from Python 2.7 to 3.6 on a Linux system involves a couple of steps. Here’s how you can do that. Just keep in mind to be careful while performing these operations because your system may be using Python 2.7 for some applications. Changing the default Python interpreter might break those applications.

1. Install Python 3.6 Make sure Python 3.6 is installed on your system. If it’s not, you can add the deadsnakes PPA and install Python 3.6 by running the following commands in the terminal.

   sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deadsnakes/ppa
   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install python3.6

Verify the installation by running python3.6 --version. The output should be something like Python 3.6.x.

1. Update the Default Python Version You can change the default Python version on your system by using the update-alternatives command. Run the following commands in your terminal:

   sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python python /usr/bin/python2.7 1
   sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python python /usr/bin/python3.6 2

This will tell your system to use Python 3.6 when you type python in the terminal.

1. Choose the Default Python Version If you want to manually choose between Python 2 and Python 3 whenever necessary, you can do that with the following command:

   sudo update-alternatives --config python

This will present a list of Python versions installed in your system and you can choose which one to use as the default.

Remember, switching the default Python version might break some applications. If you’re using Python 2.7 for a specific application, it might be a better idea to use virtual environments to manage different Python versions.