Get a Python Package Version
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.
Every once in a while a package might not define either
VERSIONor__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'@James,
__version__is recommended by PEP 396