What is sys.maxint in Python 3?

The sys.maxint constant was removed, since there is no longer a limit to the value of integers. However, sys.maxsize can be used as an integer larger than any practical list or string index. It conforms to the implementation’s “natural” integer size and is typically the same as sys.maxint in previous releases on the same platform (assuming the same build options).

http://docs.python.org/3.1/whatsnew/3.0.html#integers

As pointed out by others, Python 3's int does not have a maximum size, but if you just need something that's guaranteed to be higher than any other int value, then you can use the float value for Infinity, which you can get with float("inf").

If you are looking for a number that is bigger than all others:

Method 1:

float('inf')

Method 2:

import sys
max = sys.maxsize

If you are looking for a number that is smaller than all others:

Method 1:

float('-inf')

Method 2:

import sys
min = -sys.maxsize - 1

Method 1 works in both Python2 and Python3. Method 2 works in Python3. I have not tried Method 2 in Python2.