Mastering Updating Python on Mac

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Terminology

pip: a package management system for managing packages written in Python

venv: part of the Python standard library (since 3.3) that creates isolated environments for dependencies

Upgrading Python

Why upgrade Python? Like any dependency Python needs to be kept up to date to:

Access New Features

Every Python release brings powerful features and performance improvements.

Bug Fixes and Security

Older versions may have unresolved bugs or vulnerabilities.

Library Compatibility

Many modern libraries support only recent Python versions.

Steps to Upgrade Python

Identify the current version of Python

It’s important to know which version of Python is currently installed.

python3 --version

We can find the path of the Python binary being used with the following terminal command:

which python3

which returns the full path of the python3 executable.

/usr/local/bin/python3