Python 2 vs 3 - which one to learn?

[hotshot05]

Django has still not been ported to Python 3.
My objective is creating general applications using Python. Even though I talked about Django, I was just using it as an example. I am not focused solely on Web Development.

I was looking at starting out through Byte of Python by Swaroop Ch(*www.swaroopch.com).
The book for Python v2 was last edited in 2005 (I think), while that for Python v3 is being maintained even now(last edit 27th May 2013).


So, should I start out with an outdated book? Or should I start with v3?



Many people have mentioned that learning Python v2 first and then moving over to v3 is much easier than the other way round.

 

[nims11]

Start with python2. Learn from official python website. Its beginner guide is good as well as documentation. Like Django most python tools are still to be ported to python3. However, it is not a big deal to switch to python3 once your hands are wet in python2.

 

[Santa Maria!]

Agree with the above poster. You will not harm yourself in any way by starting with Python 2.
And FYI, Django has experimental support for Python 3 in their 1.5 (stable) release. Full support is on its way.
As for learning materials, I would also recommend the Python docs. If you want books, I'd recommend either Python Essential Reference 4/e or Core Python Programming.