[sifer]

Note that my comment is in reference to Python3, since Python2 will not be maintained past 2020.

If you’re on a Mac, just use the brew installation (brew install). If you’re on some type of prod/containerized setup, use apt’s python (apt-get install).

I would not recommend building Python from source unless you _really_ know what you’re doing on that level, as you can unintentionally shoot yourself in the foot quite a bit. From there just using a virtualenv should be pretty straightforward.

In this way, you’re letting the package managers (written by much smarter people than you and I) do the heavy lifting.