python-future is a Python 2/3 compatibility layer created by Python Charmers. Its goal is to let you support both Python 2 and Python 3 from a relatively clean, Python 3-style codebase. It provides the future and past packages, as well as two automated conversion scripts: futurize and pasteurize. The project is licensed under the MIT Licence and is positioned not as a cloud service, but as a locally installed developer tool.
Functionally, future.builtins backports built-in functions and types from Python 3 where semantics differ, while past.builtins provides forward ports of selected Python 2 types and functions. future.standard_library and future.moves help handle import differences caused by standard-library reorganization. futurize can convert Python 2 code into Py2/3-compatible code, while pasteurize can adjust Python 3 code to be compatible with both Python 2 and Python 3. The documentation also mentions automatic translation of Python 2 modules when importing them into Python 3, but this feature is still alpha and should be used with caution.
The project supports Python 2.6 and Python 3.3+, though Python 2.7 and Python 3.4+ are recommended. PyPy is generally supported, with the exception of standard-library import hooks. Its positioning is similar to tools such as six, 2to3, and python-modernize, but it places more emphasis on generating a single codebase that remains close to Python 3 style. In terms of ecosystem support, it works with pre-commit hooks and draws on compatibility interfaces from projects such as IPython, Django, Jinja2, and Pandas.
For pricing, the main materials only show the MIT Licence; no commercial edition or paid hosting was found. The documentation is fairly strong, with a quick start, migration cheat sheet, FAQ, API Reference, standard-library differences, and changelog. The downside is that the API Reference is marked as in progress, and some features are still in alpha.
Its strengths are a clear purpose, free and open-source licensing, comprehensive migration scripts and compatibility APIs, and 1000+ unit tests. The drawbacks are also obvious: Python 2 reached EOL in 2020, and the official guidance explicitly says new code should not depend on it. The FAQ also notes that the project is not actively maintained, and automated conversion results may require manual cleanup. It is best suited to teams that still have Python 2.7 legacy assets and need to migrate gradually to Python 3. New projects should use modern Python 3 directly, or refer to its migration strategies only when analyzing historical code.
The main materials do not provide information about access from mainland China, mirrors, or payments. As an open-source Python package, it can usually be used via PyPI or the source repository, but the actual stability of access to GitHub, the documentation site, and package sources depends on the local network environment. Alternatives include six, 2to3, and python-modernize.
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