Mac – Is Python Pre-Installed on Every Mac Version

macpython

Is Python pre-installed on every mac version? If so, how far does it go?

Also, I know in CentOS, its encouraged not to use the Python Pre-Installed and to actually use your own Python version (to maintain longevity)

Does this apply on Mac's? Or can I just use Python thats already installed like as if i just installed it myself

Best Answer

Python has been installed on the Mac far back, though some of the earlier versions of the OS will have particularly old versions of Python. You can discover the installed version of Python by running python -V at the command line. MacOS 10.11.6 has Python 2.7.10 installed.

If you want Python 3 or a later version of Python 2.7 then I would recommend using either Homebrew or Anaconda (if you want Python with a bunch of bells and whistles pre-installed) to install it. Homebrew and Anaconda currently install Python 2.7.12

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At least with MacPorts, this is done with the python_select command. It may not be immediately applicable to your setup (you didn't mention MacPorts) but it's somewhere to start.

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From python docs noting that they seem to have hard coded 2.5 instead of the current version and is not that well written

What you get after installing is a number of things:

A MacPython 2.5 folder in your Applications folder. In here you find IDLE, the development environment that is a standard part of official Python distributions; PythonLauncher, which handles double-clicking Python scripts from the Finder; and the “Build Applet” tool, which allows you to package Python scripts as standalone applications on your system.

A framework /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework, which includes the Python executable and libraries. The installer adds this location to your shell path. To uninstall MacPython, you can simply remove these three things. A symlink to the Python executable is placed in /usr/local/bin/.

so remove

/Applications/Python 3.1
/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.1
/usr/local/bin/python31 (I use a different install so this might be python3.1 or similar)

Best Answer

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