Python versions and pyenv

Question

I installed python3 using homebrew, but I stumbled upon many posts mentioning that it is better to use pyenv to manage different python versions. However, I have not found a post that answers my question:

Should I uninstall python3, install pyenv, and then reinstall python3 using pyenv? Or should I just install pyenv now, would this work?

Below is output from terminal:

System python

python --version
Python 2.7.18

which python
/usr/bin/python

Python3

python3 --version
Python 3.9.10

which python3
/opt/homebrew/bin/python3

Answer 1

From https://justinmayer.com/posts/homebrew-python-is-not-for-you/

Homebrew's Python is not for you. It exists to serve Homebrew, or more accurately, Homebrew's other formulae. The primary purpose of Homebrew's Python formula is to enable other Python-dependent Homebrew packages to work. If installing Homebrew's Python allows you to run the occasional Python script or access the REPL, that's a nice side benefit, but anything beyond that — including developing software with Python — is squarely out-of-scope.

You can run brew uses --installed python to check if any installed packages depend on Homebrew Python. If no packages are listed, then you can safely uninstall via brew uninstall python and use pyenv instead.