Python 2.7 is still used. This is neither a judgement, nor an opinion, but a statement. As I’m writing this, I’ve been regularly deploying software to a server that only has Python 2.7 installed for a whole year. I have no control over the server, and my client is one of the largest companies in Brazil. Everything works fine. Like I said: Python 2.7 is still used.
Since I have two small kids, I try to be pragmatic and not waste (too much) time complaining about this, instead focusing on how I can make my life easier. It turns out, if you look around a little bit longer, you can find ways to work with older versions Python more smoothly. And the final touch: you make a Python codebase compatible with Python 2 and 3, allowing you to use and test your project using more modern tools while making sure nothing brakes if someone else keeps using legacy software.
The secret is to use tox environments. This tool just keeps amazing me. Here’s the tox.ini file that I use for one of my projects, that is based on Python 2 but is being planned to upgrade to a newer server with newer versions of Python:
[tox]
env_list =
format
lint
py{27,37,38,39,310,312}
requires = virtualenv<20.22.0
[testenv]
description = run the tests with pytest
deps =
pytest
commands =
pytest {tty:--color=yes} -xvv --ff {posargs}
[testenv:format]
base_python=python2.7
description = format code
deps =
autopep8 < 1.6
commands=
autopep8 --in-place src tests
[testenv:lint]
base_python=python2.7
description = lint code
deps =
flake8==3.9.2
pydocstyle
commands =
flake8 {posargs:src tests}
pydocstyle {posargs:src tests}This assumes you have interpreters python2.7, python3.7 etc available in your path. I like to use asdf, but the cool kids seem to be using mise nowadays.
How this works: running tox -e lint in the project root, where tox.ini is placed, will lint the files under the src and tests folders using a version of flake8 and pydocstyle that is compatible with Python 2 (specified in the base_python key). The same applies for tox -e format. All these tools will point out errors like unused variables, missing docstrings, large complexity etc. Since it is based in Python 2, it will not complain about deprecated syntax. For full transparency, here is a .flake8 file that I put in the project directory:
[flake8]
select = B,B9,BLK,C,E,F,W,I
ignore = E203,E501,W503
max-line-length = 80
max-complexity = 10
import-order-style = googleIf I want to format or lint specific files, I can specify them as such:
tox -e lint -- src/main.pyEverything after the -- in a tox invocation is inserted into posargs in each tox environment, which in the example above have the default values of src tests, if no argument is passed.
Now for the cross-version part: the default environment, with no suffix after the :, runs pytest, and I can choose the desired version using a shortcut tox syntax. Running tox -e py27 will run tests under Python 2.7, tox -e py311 under Python 3.11, and so on. The first time you run each environment, tox creates a virtual environent based on the specified version, installs the most recent version of pytest compatible with that release, and then run the tests. Subsequent calls will reuse the environment under the .tox folder, unless you pass the -r flag to recreate the environment.
The tox tool is essentially a virtual environment manager, and is installed using a modern version of Python (I install it using pipx). The virtualenv-related requires line in tox.ini is what makes it possible, by constraining the version of virtualenv that is capable of working with Python 2.7 environments.
The final cherry on the cake: running tox p will run all environments specified in env_list in parallel mode. In my old laptop, I had tests run for all specified versions, plus linting and formatting for Python 2.7 compatibility, under 1 hour (my test suite needs an urgent optimization). After a development session, if I run:
tox -e format,lint,py27,py312I get the code formated, linted, and tests under two major Python versions. If I just did brakes something, I get immediate feedback and then iterate until making all tests pass. I like to run this in serial mode (with the p argument) to make sure the formatter doesn’t break anything; I supposed I could run something like this to be faster:
tox -e format,lint
tox p py27,py312Before integrating my changes into a main branch to be submitted to a Pull Request, I like to run the entire test suite to be safer.
tox completely changed my view of working with Python. I`ll talk a lot more about it in future posts.