# PythonCharmers/python-future

Easy, clean, reliable Python 2/3 compatibility

Repository: https://github.com/PythonCharmers/python-future
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/python-future
Homepage: http://python-future.org
Language: Python
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-07-24T14:11:10+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 65/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 94, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4798, "days_push": 40, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1189, forks 292 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:55.812247+00:00)

## What it is
python-future is a compatibility layer providing backports and forward ports between Python 2 and Python 3, including the futurize and pasteurize conversion scripts. It lets a single Python 3-style codebase run on both Python 2 and Python 3, though it is now mainly useful for porting legacy code since Python 2 is end-of-life.

## Use cases
- port legacy python 2 codebase to python 3
- run python 3 code on python 2.7
- write single codebase compatible with python 2 and 3
- automatically convert python 2 syntax to python 3 style
- backport python 3 builtins and stdlib module names to python 2
- migrate a large project to python 3 module by module

## When to choose
- porting an old Python 2 codebase to Python 3 incrementally
- maintaining a legacy library that must still run on Python 2.7
- needing 2to3-based automated conversion with Py3-style output

## When to avoid
- starting new projects - Python 2 is end-of-life and this adds unnecessary dependency
- code already fully on Python 3.3+ with no Python 2 support needs
- needing actively developed compatibility tooling

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: maintenance
- function: interpreter, developer-tools, parser
- domain: programming-languages, developer-tools
- platform: python, cross-platform
- tags: python-2-3-compatibility, code-migration, futurize, pasteurize, backports, legacy-code, migration

## Member repositories
- PythonCharmers/python-future (main) score 65

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:55.812247+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T06:23:07.247974+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/PythonCharmers/python-future (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:55.812247+00:00, sha 40c70cd4c942)
  - homepage: http://python-future.org (fetched 2026-08-29T12:30:41.545033+00:00, sha 7e93cd049f79)
  - site_page: https://python-future.org/quickstart.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:30:41.557109+00:00, sha aac6fb910bdc)
  - site_page: https://python-future.org/overview.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:30:41.554909+00:00, sha 913ff4762496)
  - site_page: https://python-future.org/faq.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:30:41.558735+00:00, sha 39ba3f66338a)
  - site_page: https://python-future.org/older_interfaces.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:30:41.560504+00:00, sha d6d694358e87)
  - site_page: https://python-future.org/changelog.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:30:41.562172+00:00, sha 78c8e114e301)
  - site_page: https://python-future.org/reference.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:30:41.565094+00:00, sha 2186f1ae020a)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.