How do I check what version of Python is running m

Question

How can I check what version of the Python Interpreter is interpreting my script?

Answer 1

Use platform's python_version from the stdlib:

>>> from platform import python_version
>>> print(python_version())
2.7.8

Answer 2

Put something like:

#!/usr/bin/env/python
import sys
if sys.version_info<(2,6,0):
  sys.stderr.write("You need python 2.6 or later to run this script\n")
  exit(1)

at the top of your script.

Note that depending on what else is in your script, older versions of python than the target may not be able to even load the script, so won't get far enough to report this error. As a workaround, you can run the above in a script that imports the script with the more modern code.

Answer 3

Just for fun, the following is a way of doing it on CPython 1.0-3.7b2, Pypy, Jython and Micropython. This is more of a curiosity than a way of doing it in modern code. I wrote it as part of http://stromberg.dnsalias.org/~strombrg/pythons/ , which is a script for testing a snippet of code on many versions of python at once, so you can easily get a feel for what python features are compatible with what versions of python:

via_platform = 0
check_sys = 0
via_sys_version_info = 0
via_sys_version = 0
test_sys = 0
try:
    import platform
except (ImportError, NameError):
    # We have no platform module - try to get the info via the sys module
    check_sys = 1

if not check_sys:
    if hasattr(platform, "python_version"):
        via_platform = 1
    else:
        check_sys = 1

if check_sys:
    try:
        import sys
        test_sys = 1
    except (ImportError, NameError):
        # just let via_sys_version_info and via_sys_version remain False - we have no sys module
        pass

if test_sys:
    if hasattr(sys, "version_info"):
        via_sys_version_info = 1
    elif hasattr(sys, "version"):
        via_sys_version = 1
    else:
        # just let via_sys remain False
        pass

if via_platform:
    # This gives pretty good info, but is not available in older interpreters.  Also, micropython has a
    # platform module that does not really contain anything.
    print(platform.python_version())
elif via_sys_version_info:
    # This is compatible with some older interpreters, but does not give quite as much info.
    print("%s.%s.%s" % sys.version_info[:3])
elif via_sys_version:
    import string
    # This is compatible with some older interpreters, but does not give quite as much info.
    verbose_version = sys.version
    version_list = string.split(verbose_version)
    print(version_list[0])
else:
    print("unknown")

Answer 4

From the command line (note the capital 'V'):

python -V

This is documented in 'man python'.

Answer 5

I like sys.hexversion for stuff like this.

http://docs.python.org/library/sys.html#sys.hexversion

>>> import sys
>>> sys.hexversion
33883376
>>> '%x' % sys.hexversion
'20504f0'
>>> sys.hexversion < 0x02060000
True

Answer 6

Check Python version: python -V or python --version or apt-cache policy python

you can also run whereis python to see how many versions are installed.