Starting over with Python

[Mark17]

Hi all! I'm giving Python another stab after about 18 months. I'm not a programmer so I really can feel the rust being chiseled off as I start to learn the basics again. I wanted to ask a couple very introductory questions: 1. Is Jupyter Notebook still being used? This was my IDE of choice last time; 2. Do I need to update to current Python version on my computer? I'm on 3.9.6 right now.

Thanks!

[Larz60+]

Is Jupyter Notebook still being used?

Absolutly. Be aware that there is now a great 'studio' called Jupyter Lab. Notebook can be run directly from Jupyter Lab.

Do I need to update to current Python version on my computer?

The latest version of Python is 3.11.5.
I would recommend updating to 3.11.5, or at least 3.11.4

There are so many new additions, you would struggle with 3.9.6. Everything still works, packages created with newer versions may have difficulties.

You can review the release notes from the various releases here

I would also highly recommend using virtual environments.

I have used pyenv for several years, and love it. See Snippsat's page on this here

Also take a look at his python installation tutorials on the tutorials forum