Ubuntu

Ubuntu#

Instructions taken primarily from Python 3’s official docs.

In summary,

sudo apt install python3 python3-dev

Ubuntu and Debian can use APT to get python very easily however it will rarely be the latest stable release.

sudo apt install python3

If you plan to develop (including using virtual environments), make sure to get the development package as well.

sudo apt install python3-dev

Highly not recommended due to difficulty of upgrading and uninstalling

To get the latest stable release, the primary way is to build from source code.

In the extracted Python-3.x.x directory,

sudo apt install zlib
./configure --prefix=/path/to/install/destination
make
make install

You may need sudo depends on where you’re installing.

To get the best of both worlds (up to date and easy upgrade/downgrade), the best solution is to use a version manager.

Pyenv is a dedicated version manager that not only support official Python distributions but also various other distributions.

curl https://pyenv.run | bash

In your profile config (e.g., .bashrc, .zshrc) add this,

...
export PATH="$HOME/.pyenv/bin:$PATH"
eval "$(pyenv init -)"
eval "$(pyenv virtualenv-init -)"

exec $SHELL
pyenv update
pyenv install 3.x.x

Anaconda is a distribuition — a curated suite of software (including Python) and package used in data science.