[wyclif]

you can always brew uninstall and reinstall later if you need a different version

That is the wrong way to do it. Just install pyenv/pipenv to manage different Python versions. It's dead simple to maintain system Python, Python 2.7x, and Python3.7.3 that way.

[dcosson]

Yes but I’ve never seen someone new to programming that bothered trying to figure out pyenv or similar. Even a lot of moderately experienced devs don’t bother with it. I guess it’s hard to realize the benefits of keeping environments organized until you’ve been burned by it.

[willio58]

Wrong way? I’ve used this method successfully for years.

[wyclif]

Sure you can do that, but why would you want to install and re-install different versions of Python depending on what you needed at the moment? Pyenv manages all that nicely. You can have 2x and 3x side by side without having to reinstall and uninstall anything.

[Sean1708]

> You can have 2x and 3x side by side without having to reinstall and uninstall anything.

You can do that anyway, `python` is always Python 2 (except on Arch where `python` is Python 3 and the Python 2 executable is `python2`) and the Python 3 executable is called `python3`. `pyenv` is more for keeping multiple minor versions of the same major version (e.g. Python 3.6 and Python 3.7) around at the same time.

[wyclif]

`pyenv` is more for keeping multiple minor versions of the same major version (e.g. Python 3.6 and Python 3.7) around at the same time

Actually, it doesn't have to be multiple minor versions, it can be any version–major or minor. It can even be Iron Python or Jython. Anyway, the point is that it's smart not to touch system Python on macOS. So when I run:

`$ pyenv versions`

My output is:

`system

`2.7.16

`* 3.7.3 (set by /Users/wyclif/.pyenv/version)

Dead simple and easy to use. Much better than overwriting and reinstalling when you need a different version for a specific project.

[xapata]

Or conda, which I prefer to pipenv + pyenv.