Home

pY2

py2, commonly used as shorthand for Python 2, refers to the 2.x series of the Python programming language. It was introduced as the successor to Python 1.x in 2000 and became the dominant Python line for much of the 2000s and early 2010s. Python 2 offered dynamic typing, a large standard library, and a rich ecosystem of third-party packages, helping to drive widespread adoption across software development, data analysis, and education.

A major distinction from Python 3, its successor, is the need to maintain backward compatibility with existing

Support for Python 2 ended on January 1, 2020, marking the official end of life for the

See also: Python (programming language), Python 3, software migration.

code.
Python
2
initially
used
a
print
statement,
had
different
division
semantics,
and
separated
text
(str)
and
binary
data
(bytes)
in
ways
that
could
cause
subtle
bugs
during
porting.
The
two
versions
also
diverged
in
standard
library
organization
and
Unicode
handling.
To
ease
transition,
developers
used
tools
such
as
the
2to3
converter
and
explicit
future
imports
to
gradually
adopt
Python
3
syntax
and
behaviors.
2.x
series.
The
last
maintenance
releases,
culminating
in
the
Python
2.7
branch,
provided
a
final
set
of
bug
fixes
and
security
patches,
after
which
no
new
official
updates
were
released.
Migration
to
Python
3
has
been
the
recommended
path,
driven
by
improvements
in
language
design,
performance,
and
library
support.
Some
legacy
systems
and
applications
continued
to
run
on
Python
2
in
controlled
environments,
often
using
virtualization
or
containerization
to
isolate
Py2
workloads
and
facilitate
migration.