How to Run Different Versions of Python From Your Terminal.

Version specific virtual environments. The elegant solution to needing different Python versions for different projects.

Who’s a happy camper? Yes you are! Yes you are! Photo by Bob Walker on Unsplash

In order to install the package I required, I needed to switch to an older version of Python, but only for that project. Here is the simple solution: Version specific virtual environments.

As of writing this, I am using the latest version of Python on my machine: 3.8.5. It is usually fine to use the latest version. Except every now and then, something juicy requires an earlier version of Python for it to work, or in some cases, it won’t even install without that older version.

In this case, I’m talking about Kivy. It’s a super slick front end app development library for Python. It lets you develop mobile apps for your device completely in Python, and it’s really solid from what I can see (it even supports Material Design). But for you, it could be anything that doesn’t have support for your version of Python. Here’s a really simple and elegant way to get your specific version up and running.

1. Install it on your system. Ok, you can’t use a specific…