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Compatibility with Python 2 and Python 3

Starting with EasyBuild v4.0, the EasyBuild framework and easyblocks are compatible with both Python versions 2 and 3. More specifically, the following Python versions are currently supported:

Determining which Python version EasyBuild is using via $EB_VERBOSE

To determine which Python version is being used to run EasyBuild, you can define the $EB_VERBOSE environment variable.

For example:

$ export EB_VERBOSE=1
$ eb --version
>> Considering 'python'...
>> No 'python' found in $PATH, skipping...
>> Considering 'python3'...
>> 'python3' version: 3.6.9, which matches Python 3 version requirement (>= 3.5)
>> Selected Python command: python3 (/usr/local/bin/python3)
>> python3 -m easybuild.main --version
This is EasyBuild 4.0.0 (framework: 4.0.0, easyblocks: 4.0.0) on host example.

Controlling which python command EasyBuild will use via $EB_PYTHON

The eb command will consider different python commands, and check the Python version corresponding with the command before selecting one. The commands considered are (in order):

  • python
  • python3
  • python2

Before considering these commands, eb will first consider the command name specified via the $EB_PYTHON environment variable (if defined), so you can always control which Python version is being used if desired.

For example:

$ export EB_PYTHON=python3.7
$ export EB_VERBOSE=1
$ eb --version
>> Considering 'python3.7'...
>> 'python3.7' version: 3.7.2, which matches Python 3 version requirement (>= 3.5)
>> Selected Python command: python3.7 (/usr/local/bin/python3.7)
>> python3.7 -m easybuild.main --version
This is EasyBuild 4.0.0 (framework: 4.0.0, easyblocks: 4.0.0) on host example.

The easybuild.tools.py2vs3 package

To facilitate this, the easybuild.tools.py2vs3 package was introduced in EasyBuild v4.0. When importing a function from this package, you will automatically get a version of the function that is compatible with the Python version being used to run EasyBuild.

Through this approach we can hide subtle differences between Python 2 and 3, while avoiding code duplication and Python version checks throughout the codebase, as well as avoid requiring packages like six or future (which facilitate maintaining compatibility with Python 2 and 3, but are also a bit of a burden).

The easybuild.tools.py2vs3 package provides two major classes of items (listed below in alphabetical order):

  • functions from the Python standard library which should be imported from different locations in Python 2 and 3
  • wrappers for functionality in the Python standard library which behaves differently in Python 2 and 3

ascii_letters

  • Python 2: corresponds to string.letters
  • Python 3: corresponds to string.ascii_letters

ascii_lowercase

  • Python 2: corresponds to string.lowercase
  • Python 3: corresponds to string.ascii_lowercase

build_opener

  • Python 2: corresponds to urllib2.build_opener function
  • Python 3: corresponds to urllib.request.build_opener function

configparser

  • Python 2: corresponds to ConfigParser.configparser module
  • Python 3: corresponds to configparser module

create_base_metaclass

Function to create a metaclass that can be used as a base class, implemented in a way that is compatible with both Python 2 and 3.

extract_method_name

Function to method name from lambda function, implemented in a way that is compatible with both Python 2 and 3.

HTTPError

  • Python 2: corresponds to urllib2.HTTPError
  • Python 3: corresponds to urllib.request.HTTPError

HTTPSHandler

  • Python 2: corresponds to urllib2.HTTPSHandler
  • Python 3: corresponds to urllib.request.HTTPSHandler

json_loads

  • Python 2: wraps json.loads function

  • Python 3: wraps json.loads function, taking into account that for Python versions older than 3.6

    • a value of type string (rather than bytes) is required as argument

mk_wrapper_baseclass

Function to create a wrapper base class using the specified metaclass, implemented in a way that is compatible with both Python 2 and 3.

OrderedDict

  • Python 2.6: corresponds to easybuild.tools.ordereddict.OrderedDict
  • Python 2.7: corresponds to collections.OrderedDict
  • Python 3: corresponds to collections.OrderedDict

reload

  • Python 2: corresponds to reload built-in function
  • Python 3: corresponds to importlib.reload function

raise_with_traceback

Function to raise an error with specified message and traceback, implemented in a way that is compatible with both Python 2 and 3.

Request

  • Python 2: corresponds to urllib2.Request
  • Python 3: corresponds to urllib.request.Request

subprocess_popen_text

  • Python 2: wrapper for subprocess.Popen
  • Python 3: wrapper for subprocess.Popen while forcing text mode (using universal_newlines=True)

std_urllib

  • Python 2: corresponds to urllib package
  • Python 3: corresponds to urllib.request package

string_type

  • Python 2: corresponds to basestring built-in string type
  • Python 3: corresponds to str built-in string type

StringIO

  • Python 2: corresponds to StringIO.StringIO class
  • Python 3: corresponds to io.StringIO class

urlencode

  • Python 2: corresponds to urllib.urlencode function
  • Python 3: corresponds to urllib.parse.urlencode function

URLError

  • Python 2: corresponds to urllib2.URLError
  • Python 3: corresponds to urllib.request.URLError

urlopen

  • Python 2: corresponds to urllib2.urlopen
  • Python 3: corresponds to urllib.request.urlopen
Last update: August 17, 2023