Get a Python Package Version

By  on  

Part of maintaining a Django-based application like MDN's kuma is ensuring Python packages are up to date.  I was recently testing an upgrade on a remote system and needed to ensure that a given Python package was at the version number it should be.  Here's how I retrieved the package version:

import nose   # Nose is a test utility.  Replace with your desired package here.
nose.__version__

# Output:  0.3.1

The __version__ property returns the exact version number for a Python package.  Some Python packages use a VERSION property as well, but __version__ should be the most reliable.

Recent Features

Incredible Demos

  • By
    WebKit-Specific Style:  -webkit-appearance

    I was recently scoping out the horrid source code of the Google homepage when I noticed the "Google Search" and "I'm Feeling Lucky" buttons had a style definition I hadn't seen before:  -webkit-appearance.  The value assigned to the style was "push-button."  They are buttons so that...

  • By
    MooTools Documentation Search Favelet

    I'm going to share something with you that will blow your mind: I don't have the MooTools documentation memorized. I just don't. I visit the MooTools docs frequently to figure out the order of parameters of More classes and how best to use...

Discussion

  1. Every once in a while a package might not define either VERSION or __version__, since they’re conventions, not required. You can always get the installed version with pkg_resources, though:

    >>> import pkg_resources
    >>> pkg_resources.get_distribution("PIL").version
    '1.1.7'
    
  2. Alfred Tarski

    @James, __version__ is recommended by PEP 396

Wrap your code in <pre class="{language}"></pre> tags, link to a GitHub gist, JSFiddle fiddle, or CodePen pen to embed!