2. Python 2.7 and Python 3.x

At this writing, both Python 2.7 and Python 3.2 are officially maintained implementations. The 3.0 release marked the first release in the development of Python that a new version was incompatible with the old one.

If you are using 2.x releases of Python, there is no hurry to convert to the 3.x series. Release 2.7 is guaranteed to be around for many years. Furthermore, there are tools to help you automate much of the conversion process. Notes throughout this document will discuss specific features of 2.7 that are intended to ease the transition.

For a discussion of the changes between 2.7 and 3.0, see What's New in Python.
To see what changes must be made in your program to allow automatic conversion to Python 3.x, run Python with this flag:
```
python -3 yourprogram
```
To convert your program to Python 3.x, first make a copy of the original program, then run this command:
```
python3-2to3 -w yourprogram
```
The -w flag replaces yourprogram with the converted 3.x version, and moves the original to “yourprogram.bak”

For full documentation of the Python 3.2 version, see the online documentation.

Python 2.7 quick reference

2. Python 2.7 and Python 3.x