Drop Python 2.6

What is this about?

Python 2.6 reached the end of its life on 29 October 2013. It's about time to drop support for Python 2.6.

Reasons for dropping

• pip no longer supports Python {{version}}
• Stop using Python 2.6 please
• Stop Supporting Python 2.6 (For Free)
• Scientific Python moving to require Python 3
• Not much PyPI traffic (June 2016)
• Virtually no PyPI traffic (June 2018)

What is this list?

This site shows the top 360 most-downloaded packages on PyPI (source) showing which have dropped support for Python 2.6.

• Green packages have dropped Python 2.6,
• White packages may still support Python 2.6.

Packages that are backports (for example, enum34) or known to be deprecated are not included (for example, distribute). If your package is incorrectly listed, please create a ticket.

This is not an official website, just a nice visual way to measure progress. To see the authoritative guide on wheels and other aspects of python packaging, see the Python Packaging User Guide.

My package is white. What can I do?

Remove the classifier

Remove the Trove classifier from setup.py.

'Programming Language :: Python :: 2.6'

Stop testing 2.6

Remove Python 2.6 from your CI. For example Travis CI's .travis.yml:

python:
 - 2.6

And for example from Appveyor's appveyor.yml:

C:\Python26
C:\Python26-x64

And tox.ini:

envlist=py26

Remove old code and documentation

Remove old Python 2.6-specific code and documentation. Common files to check:

• .travis.yml
• appveyor.yml
• README.md
• setup.py
• tox.ini

For example, no need to install or import unittest2 any more. This:

try:
    import unittest2 as unittest  # Python 2.6
 except ImportError:
    import unittest

…can be replaced with:

import unittest

Search your code for stuff like:

if sys.version_info < (2, 7):
    # Python 2.6 stuff

if platform.python_version == "2.6":
    # Python 2.6 stuff

ver = platform.python_version_tuple()
    if float('{0}.{1}'.format(*ver[:2])) < 2.7:
    # Python 2.6 stuff

try:
    # Python 2.6
    import something
except ImportError:
    # Python 2.7+
    import something_else

// In C code
#if PY_VERSION_HEX < 0x02070000
-#endif

Also search for 2.6 and 26.

If you test with coverage, look for code which was tested before removing 2.6 from your CI.

Finally, consider dropping support for Python 2.6 and 3.3, which reached EOL on 2013-10-29 and 2017-09-29 respectively.

Use new Python features

See what's new. For example:

• Use set literals:

  set([1, 2, 3])  # This can be replaced...
  {1, 2, 3}       # ... with this

• Update string formatters:

  # These can be replaced...
  '%s %s' % ('one', 'two')
  '{1} {2}'.format('one', 'two')
  
  # ... with this
  '{} {}'.format('one', 'two')

• Use OrderedDict and Counter from collections

Something's wrong with this page!

Fantastic, a problem found is a problem fixed. Please create a ticket!

You can also submit a pull request.

Thanks

Thanks to Python Wheels and Python 3 Wall of Superpowers for the concept and making their code open source.