Home >Backend Development >Python Tutorial >How Can I Set Python 3.x as the Default Python Interpreter on macOS?
Setting Python 3.x as Default on OS X
To run Python 3.3 instead of the default Python 2.7 version, you can use the following method:
Alias the Commands
In macOS, you can create an alias in your ~/.profile file to change the command's default behavior. Add the following line to your ~/.profile:
alias python='python3'
Next, source the ~/.profile file in your ~/.bash_profile or ~/.zsh_profile using:
[ -e ~/.profile ] && . ~/.profile
This makes the alias available in all shells.
Invoke Python 2 with "python2"
With the alias in place, the "python" command will execute Python 3. If you need to invoke Python 2 on occasion, you can use the "python2" command, which leaves the alias untouched.
Additional Aliases
For convenience, you can create additional aliases for quick access to Python interpreters:
alias 2='python2' alias 3='python3'
Tip for Scripts
Instead of using shebangs like "#!/usr/bin/env python," use "#!/usr/bin/env python3" in scripts. This ensures that Python 3 is used for running Python executables.
The above is the detailed content of How Can I Set Python 3.x as the Default Python Interpreter on macOS?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!