Python on the CS Webservers

Python is supported as a CGI program on the CS Department webservers, but there are a few things you should know about it.

You may also want to read about Python on the CS Linux Clients.

Python Versions

The webservers have both Python 3 and Python 2 available.

The default Python version (what you get when you run the python program) on our ugrad webserver (ugrad.cs.jhu.edu) is Python 3. If you want Python 2, you must specify it explicitly by using python2 at the top of your program.

The default Python version on the grad webserver (www.cs.jhu.edu) is Python 2, though it will be changing to Python 3 in January 2021 (and is Python 3 already on the testing webserver web2.cs.jhu.edu). You should specify the Python version in your programs by explicitly using either the python2 or python3 program.

Python Packages

The set of Python packages installed on the webservers is fairly minimal. If you need a package that's not installed, you should first try installing it yourself into your home directory, using our pip instructions. If that does not work, you can contact us at support@cs.jhu.edu for assistance, but be aware that we are not be able to install every requested package.