Setup Python3 as default Python version in Unix/Linux - Python for Data Analytics

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Setup Python3 as default Python version in Unix/Linux

On my Ubuntu machine, there are two versions of python available, python2.7 as default python version and python3. In this step, we will change the default python version to python 3.

Check the python version:

 python

Result:

 Python 2.7.12 (default, Jul 1 2016, 15:12:24)  
 [GCC 5.4.0 20160609] on linux2  
 Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.  
 >>>

So the default python is 2.7 at the moment. Next, remove default python 2 and change the default to python 3 with the 'update-alternatives' command:

update-alternatives --remove python /usr/bin/python2
update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python python /usr/bin/python3

Now check again the python version:

 python

Result:

Python 3.5.2 (default, Jul  5 2016, 12:43:10)
[GCC 5.4.0 20160609] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>