The Python programming language is continually evolving and went through three major versions since its creation. These versions are 1, 2, and 3, and are also known as Python 1, Python 2, and Python 3.
In 2008, the PSF announced that the end-of-life, or sunset, of Python 2 will be in the year 2015. The deadline was then extended to January 2020, and now Python 2 is officially discontinued. The last version of Python 2 is 2.7.18 , which was released in April 2020.
Python 3 was released in December 2008, and as of this writing, the latest stable version is 3.10. Python 3, also known as “Python 3000” or “Py3k”, is a major revision of Python 2. The two versions are incompatible but have multiple similarities.
Python versions use the following version scheme:
Major.Minor.Micro
Where:
- Major: is a number that indicates a major version of Python. As previously mentioned, there are three major versions of Python, which are 1, 2, and 3.
- Minor: is a number that indicates a minor version of Python, also called “feature release”. Feature Releases are released approximately every year, or year and half, and they generally add new features and optimizations to Python.
- Micro: is a number that indicates a micro version of Python. Micro versions are released approximately every two months, and are generally bugfixes.
Example
