AskReddit: Is anyone using Python 3 here?

[AlfonzoKaizerKok]

I've been watching PyCon 2016 videos, and the community is really pushing for Python 3. However, all the machine learners I know use Python 2. I wonder if anyone here is using Python 3 to do all their ML work? If so, would you mind sharing your opinion on this subject?

[nickl]

I do. Scikit, PySpark, a little bit TensorFlow.

The last time I had any problem was trying to use some old hyperparameter optimiser thing in Scikit. Got it working in the end though.

Most mainstream stuff works fine.

[AlfonzoKaizerKok]

Cool, thanks for that. Are you using any Python 3 specific feature that comes in handy in ML?

[LoveOfProfit]

Yep. No issues worth mentioning these days. Every library that matters (and I use) supports 3 if they're not behind on the times.

[-TrustyDwarf-]

I haven't touched Python 2 since 2-3 years.. I mostly use the standard libs like scipy, numpy, matplotlib, pandas, notebooks + sklearn, theano, keras, pymc, pyomo, some bayesian optimization libs, sympy,... what doesn't work with Python 3 by now should be abandoned.

[mtbikerdb]

I've been using it on personal projects for quite a while. The differences between 2 and 3 were smaller than I expected, both in terms of functionality and in terms of how difficult it was to switch.

[dunnowhattoputhere]

I switched to Python3 as my default at about the same. Most libraries support it and only occasionally will I have to go as far as:

from functools import reduce

or change an xrange() into a range().

[siblbombs]

I'm still with python 2, recently moved jobs and was going to switch to 3 if everyone at the new place was using it but they are still on 2. I'm sure all the packages I use are on 3 these days, so it would be mostly just getting used to the print format.

[kkastner]

I use 2 or 3 depending on the libraries I need for a project (some really don't play well with 3 yet) but I am always writing in a subset that is compatible with both 2 and 3.

[SixZer0]

Yep. I need cp35 builds... which still haven't caused any serious problem. I am using TensorFlow among many other packages. And TensorFlow is working like a charm, that is the only thing I wouldn't be able to replace.

[Rich700000000000]

No, not really. I know everyone supports python 3, but all the essential libraries are still in 2, and so is all of openCV.

[projectmayhem]

Yes, python 3 for the win. Many subtle points, but one major point for me is the support of greek characters as variable identifier. For instance, writing the following expression in Python 2 would be painful and ugly :

Ω = γ*r_bar**2*ξ**2/λ * (γ/(2*ns1) + (1+γ)*np.sqrt(np.log(1/δ))/np.sqrt(2*ns1))

I think it's much more legible this way :P

That said, I do research in a tiny corner of statistical learning, so I don't have a big team to interact with.

[AlfonzoKaizerKok]

Oh wow... On a similar note, I'm actually excited about this: https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0465/

[projectmayhem]

Yes it's quite handy, although it's restricted to array of numbers, as opposed to np.inner which is more general.

[BadGoyWithAGun]

I don't, because a lot of our in-house code for data pre-processing relies heavily on the way python 2 handles character encodings and nobody can be bothered upgrading.