Python Insider: 2021

Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Python 3.11.0a3 is available

You can tell that we are slowly getting closer to the first beta as the number of release blockers that we need to fix on every release starts to increase But we did it!

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-3110a1/

Major new features of the 3.11 series, compared to 3.10

Among the new major new features and changes so far:

PEP 657 – Include Fine-Grained Error Locations in Tracebacks
PEP 654 – PEP 654 – Exception Groups and except*
The Faster Cpython Project is already yielding some exciting results: this version of CPython 3.11 is ~19% faster on the geometric mean of the performance benchmarks, compared to 3.10.0.

(Hey,

fellow core developer,

if a feature you find important is missing from this list,

let Pablo know

The next pre-release of Python 3.11 will be 3.11.0a3, currently scheduled for 2022-01-03.

More resources

Online Documentation

PEP 664, 3.11 Release Schedule
Report bugs at https://bugs.python.org.

Help fund Python and its community.

And now for something completely different

Rayleigh scattering, named after the nineteenth-century British physicist Lord Rayleigh is the predominantly elastic scattering of light or other electromagnetic radiation by particles much smaller than the wavelength of the radiation. For light frequencies well below the resonance frequency of the scattering particle, the amount of scattering is inversely proportional to the fourth power of the wavelength. Rayleigh scattering results from the electric polarizability of the particles. The oscillating electric field of a light wave acts on the charges within a particle, causing them to move at the same frequency. The particle, therefore, becomes a small radiating dipole whose radiation we see as scattered light. The particles may be individual atoms or molecules; it can occur when light travels through transparent solids and liquids but is most prominently seen in gases.

The strong wavelength dependence of the scattering means that shorter (blue) wavelengths are scattered more strongly than longer (red) wavelengths. This results in the indirect blue light coming from all regions of the sky.

We hope you enjoy the new releases!

Thanks to all of the many volunteers who help make Python Development and these releases possible! Please consider supporting our efforts by volunteering yourself or through organization contributions to the Python Software Foundation.

https://www.python.org/psf/

Your friendly release team,
Ned Deily @nad
Steve Dower @steve.dower
Pablo Galindo Salgado @pablogsal

Monday, December 6, 2021

Python 3.10.1 is available

I hope you like bug fixes, because we have a whole shipment of them! Python 3.10.1 is the first maintenance release of Python 3.10 as we have packed more than 330 commits of fixes and general improvements. You can get it here:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-3101/

This is the first maintenance release of Python 3.10

Python 3.10.1 is the newest major release of the Python programming language, and it contains many new features and optimizations.

Major new features of the 3.10 series, compared to 3.9

Among the new major new features and changes so far:

PEP 623 – Deprecate and prepare for the removal of the wstr member in PyUnicodeObject.

PEP 604 – Allow writing union types as X | Y

PEP 612 – Parameter Specification Variables

PEP 626 – Precise line numbers for debugging and other tools.

PEP 618 – Add Optional Length-Checking To zip.

bpo-12782: Parenthesized context managers are now officially allowed.

PEP 632 – Deprecate distutils module.

PEP 613 – Explicit Type Aliases

PEP 634 – Structural Pattern Matching: Specification

PEP 635 – Structural Pattern Matching: Motivation and Rationale

PEP 636 – Structural Pattern Matching: Tutorial

PEP 644 – Require OpenSSL 1.1.1 or newer

PEP 624 – Remove Py_UNICODE encoder APIs

PEP 597 – Add optional EncodingWarning

More resources

Online Documentation

PEP 619, 3.10 Release Schedule

Report bugs at https://bugs.python.org.

Help fund Python and its community.

bpo-38605: from __future__ import annotations (PEP 563) used to be on this list in previous pre-releases but it has been postponed to Python 3.11 due to some compatibility concerns. You can read the Steering Council communication about it here to learn more.

And now for something completely different

The Meissner effect (or Meissner–Ochsenfeld effect) is the expulsion of a magnetic field from a superconductor during its transition to the superconducting state when it is cooled below the critical temperature. This expulsion will repel a nearby magnet. The German physicists Walther Meissner and Robert Ochsenfeld discovered this phenomenon in 1933 by measuring the magnetic field distribution outside superconducting tin and lead samples. The experiment demonstrated for the first time that superconductors were more than just perfect conductors and provided a uniquely defining property of the superconductor state. The ability for the expulsion effect is determined by the nature of equilibrium formed by the neutralization within the unit cell of a superconductor.

You can do very cool things with it!

We hope you enjoy the new releases!

https://www.python.org/psf/

Your friendly release team,
Ned Deily @nad
Steve Dower @steve.dower
Pablo Galindo Salgado @pablogsal

Monday, November 15, 2021

Python 3.9.9 hotfix release is now available

Get it here: https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-399/

Python 3.9.9 is the eighth maintenance release of the legacy 3.9 series. Python 3.10 is now the latest feature release series of Python 3. Get the latest release of 3.10.x here.

3.9.9 was released out of schedule as a hotfix for an argparse regression in Python 3.9.8 which caused complex command-line tools to fail recognizing sub-commands properly. Details in BPO-45235. There are only three other bugfixes in this release compared to 3.9.8. See the changelog for details on what changed.

Upgrading to 3.9.9 is highly recommended if you’re running Python 3.9.8.

The next Python 3.9 maintenance release will be 3.9.10, currently scheduled for 2022-01-03.

We apologize for the inconvenience

…and still hope you’ll enjoy the new release!

Your friendly release team,
Ned Deily @nad
Steve Dower @steve.dower
Łukasz Langa @ambv

Friday, November 5, 2021

Python 3.9.8 and 3.11.0a2 are now available

Tcl/Tk updates

With the recent release of macOS 12 Monterey, we noticed that tkinter file dialogs are failing to show up on this new operating system, including in our built-in IDLE. Thanks to rapid help from the Tk team, and Marc Culler in particular, we were able to fix the issue by bundling Python 3.9.8 and Python 3.11.0a2 with a fixed Tcl/Tk version. In 3.9.8 it’s a patched 8.6.11 release while 3.11.0a2 is rocking the bleeding-edge 8.6.12rc1.

Since the issue also affected our latest stable version, 3.10.0, an updated macOS installer for this version was issued. You can recognize it by the post2 version appendix: python-3.10.0post2-macos11.pkg. We didn’t have to bump the version number of Python itself since there are no Python source differences between this package and the original 3.10.0. The only difference is the bundled patched Tcl/Tk library.

Initially the original 3.10.0 installer was removed from the website after all URLs got updated to point to the patched version but it turned out this breaks some workflows so the patched installer is now also available under the original filename.

Python 3.9.8

Get it here: https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-398/

Python 3.9.8 is the seventh maintenance release of the legacy 3.9 series. Python 3.10 is now the latest feature release series of Python 3. Get the latest release of 3.10.x here.

There’s been 202 commits since 3.9.7 which shows that there’s still considerable interest in improving Python 3.9. To compare, at the same stage of the release cycle Python 3.8 received over 25% fewer commits. See the changelog for details on what changed.

On macOS, the default installer is now the new universal2 variant. It’s compatible with Mac OS X 10.9 and newer, including macOS 11 Big Sur and macOS 12 Monterey. You may need to upgrade third-party components, like pip, to the newest versions. You may experience differences in behavior in IDLE and other Tk-based applications due to using the newest version of Tk. As always, if you encounter problems when using this installer variant, please check https://bugs.python.org for existing reports and for opening new issues.

The next Python 3.9 maintenance release will be 3.9.9, currently scheduled for 2022-01-03.

Python 3.11.0a2

Python 3.11 is still in development. This release, 3.11.0a2 is the second of seven planned alpha releases.

Alpha releases are intended to make it easier to test the current state of new features and bug fixes and to test the release process.

During the alpha phase, features may be added up until the start of the beta phase (2022-05-06) and, if necessary, may be modified or deleted up until the release candidate phase (2022-08-01). Please keep in mind that this is a preview release and its use is not recommended for production environments.

Many new features for Python 3.11 are still being planned and written. Among the new major new features and changes so far:

PEP 657 – Include Fine-Grained Error Locations in Tracebacks
The Faster CPython Project 1 is already yielding some exciting results: this version of CPython 3.11 is ~12% faster on the geometric mean of the PyPerformance benchmarks, compared to 3.10.0.
(Hey, fellow core developer, if a feature you find important is missing from this list, let Pablo know.)

The next pre-release of Python 3.11 will be 3.11.0a3, currently scheduled for Monday, 2021-12-06.

We hope you enjoy the new releases

Your friendly release team,
Ned Deily @nad
Pablo Galindo Salgado @pablogsal
Steve Dower @steve.dower
Łukasz Langa @ambv

Thursday, October 7, 2021

Python 3.11.0a1 is available

Now that we are on a release spree, here you have the first alpha release of Python 3.11: Python 3.11.0a1. Let the testing and validation games begin!

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-3110a1/

Major new features of the 3.11 series, compared to 3.10

Among the new major new features and changes so far:

PEP 657 – Include Fine-Grained Error Locations in Tracebacks
PEP 654 – PEP 654 – Exception Groups and except*
(Hey, fellow core developer, if a feature you find important is missing from this list, let Pablo know.)

The next pre-release of Python 3.11 will be 3.11.0a2, currently scheduled for 2021-11-02.

More resources

Online Documentation

PEP 664, 3.11 Release Schedule
Report bugs at https://bugs.python.org.

Help fund Python and its community.

And now for something completely different

Schwarzschild black holes are also unique because they have a space-like singularity at their core, which means that the singularity doesn't happen at a specific point in *space* but happens at a specific point in *time* (the future). This means once you are inside the event horizon you cannot point with your finger towards the direction the singularity is located because the singularity happens in your future: no matter where you move, you will "fall" into it.

For a Schwarzschild black hole (a black hole with no rotation or electromagnetic charge), given a free fall particle starting at the event horizon, the maximum propper time (which happens when it falls without angular velocity) it will experience to fall into the singularity is `π*M` (in natural units), where M is the mass of the black hole. For Sagittarius A* (the black hole at the centre of the milky way) this time is approximately 1 minute.

We hope you enjoy the new releases!

https://www.python.org/psf/

Your friendly release team,
Ned Deily @nad
Steve Dower @steve.dower
Pablo Galindo Salgado @pablogsal

Monday, October 4, 2021

Python 3.10.0 is available

On behalf of the Python development community and the Python 3.10 release team, I’m pleased to announce the availability of Python 3.10.0.

Python 3.10.0 is the newest major release of the Python programming language, and it contains many new features and optimizations.

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-3100/

Major new features of the 3.10 series, compared to 3.9

Among the new major new features and changes so far:

PEP 623 – Deprecate and prepare for the removal of the wstr member in PyUnicodeObject.

PEP 604 – Allow writing union types as X | Y

PEP 612 – Parameter Specification Variables

PEP 626 – Precise line numbers for debugging and other tools.

PEP 618 – Add Optional Length-Checking To zip.

bpo-12782: Parenthesized context managers are now officially allowed.

PEP 632 – Deprecate distutils module.

PEP 613 – Explicit Type Aliases

PEP 634 – Structural Pattern Matching: Specification

PEP 635 – Structural Pattern Matching: Motivation and Rationale

PEP 636 – Structural Pattern Matching: Tutorial

PEP 644 – Require OpenSSL 1.1.1 or newer

PEP 624 – Remove Py_UNICODE encoder APIs

PEP 597 – Add optional EncodingWarning

More resources

Online Documentation

PEP 619, 3.10 Release Schedule

Report bugs at https://bugs.python.org.

Help fund Python and its community.

And now for something completely different

We hope you enjoy the new releases!

https://www.python.org/psf/

Your friendly release team,
Ned Deily @nad
Steve Dower @steve.dower
Pablo Galindo Salgado @pablogsal

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Python 3.10.0rc2 is available

Python 3.10 is one month away, can you believe it? This snake is still trying to bite as it has been an interesting day of fighting fires, release blockers, and a bunch of late bugs but your friendly release team always delivers

You can get this new release while is still fresh here:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-3100rc2/

This release, 3.10.0rc2, is the last preview before the final release of Python 3.10.0 on 2021-10-04. Entering the release candidate phase, only reviewed code changes which are clear bug fixes are allowed between release candidates and the final release. There will be no ABI changes from this point forward in the 3.10 series and the goal is that there will be as few code changes as possible.

Call to action

The 3.10 branch is now accepting changes for 3.10.1. To maximize stability, the final release will be cut from the v3.10.0rc2 tag. If you need the release manager to cherry-pick any critical fixes, mark issues as release blockers and/or add him as a reviewer on a critical backport PR on GitHub.

To see which changes are currently cherry-picked for inclusion in 3.10.0, look at the short-lived branch-v3.10.0 https://github.com/python/cpython/tree/branch-v3.10.0 on GitHub.

Core developers: all eyes on the docs now

Are all your changes properly documented?

Did you notice other changes you know of to have insufficient documentation?

Community members

We strongly encourage maintainers of third-party Python projects to prepare their projects for 3.10 compatibilities during this phase. As always, report any issues to the Python bug tracker.

Please keep in mind that this is a preview release and its use is **not** recommended for production environments.

Major new features of the 3.10 series, compared to 3.9

Many new features for Python 3.10 are still being planned and written. Among the new major new features and changes so far:

PEP 623 – Deprecate and prepare for the removal of the wstr member in PyUnicodeObject.
PEP 604 – Allow writing union types as X | Y
PEP 612 – Parameter Specification Variables
PEP 626 – Precise line numbers for debugging and other tools.
PEP 618 – Add Optional Length-Checking To zip.
bpo-12782: Parenthesized context managers are now officially allowed.
PEP 632 – Deprecate distutils module.
PEP 613 – Explicit Type Aliases
PEP 634 – Structural Pattern Matching: Specification
PEP 635 – Structural Pattern Matching: Motivation and Rationale
PEP 636 – Structural Pattern Matching: Tutorial
PEP 644 – Require OpenSSL 1.1.1 or newer
PEP 624 – Remove Py_UNICODE encoder APIs
PEP 597 – Add optional EncodingWarning
(Hey, fellow core developer, if a feature you find important is missing from this list, let Pablo know.)

The next release will be the final release of Python 3.10.0, which is currently scheduled for Monday, 2021-10-04.

More resources

And now for something completely different

Maxwell’s demon is a thought experiment that would hypothetically violate the second law of thermodynamics. It was proposed by the physicist James Clerk Maxwell in 1867. In the thought experiment, a demon controls a small massless door between two chambers of gas. As individual gas molecules (or atoms) approach the door, the demon quickly opens and closes the door to allow only fast-moving molecules to pass through in one direction, and only slow-moving molecules to pass through in the other. Because the kinetic temperature of a gas depends on the velocities of its constituent molecules, the demon’s actions cause one chamber to warm up and the other to cool down. This would decrease the total entropy of the two gases, without applying any work, thereby violating the second law of thermodynamics.

We hope you enjoy those new releases!

Your friendly release team,

Pablo Galindo @pablogsal

Ned Deily @nad

Steve Dower @steve.dower

Saturday, September 4, 2021

Python 3.7.12 and 3.6.15 security updates now available

Python 3.7.12 and 3.6.15, the lastest security fix rollups for Python 3.7 and Python 3.6, are now available. You can find the release files, links to the changelogs, and more information here:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-3712/
https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-3615/

These releases are source code only; Windows and macOS binary installers are not provided for security fix releases.

Note that Python 3.9 is now the latest feature release series of Python 3. You should consider upgrading to 3.9 as soon as practical. Get the latest release of 3.9.x here.

Monday, August 30, 2021

Python 3.9.7 and 3.8.12 are now available

Python 3.9.7

Python 3.9.7 is the newest major stable release of the Python programming language, and it contains many new features and optimizations. There’s been 187 commits since 3.9.6 which is a similar amount compared to 3.8 at the same stage of the release cycle. See the change log for details.

On macOS, we encourage you to use the universal2 binary installer variant whenever possible. The legacy 10.9+ Intel-only variant will not be provided for Python 3.10 and the universal2 variant will become the default download for 3.9.8. You may need to upgrade third-party components, like pip, to later versions. You may experience differences in behavior in IDLE and other Tk-based applications due to using the newer version of Tk. As always, if you encounter problems when using this installer variant, please check https://bugs.python.org for existing reports and for opening new issues.

The next Python 3.9 maintenance release will be 3.9.8, currently scheduled for 2021-11-01.

The Second Security-Only Release of Python 3.8

Security content in this release contains four fixes. There are also four additional fixes for bugs that might have lead to denial-of-service attacks. Finally, while we’re not providing binary installers anymore, for those users who produce installers, we upgraded the OpenSSL version used to 1.1.1l. Take a look at the change log for details.

According to the release calendar specified in PEP 569, Python 3.8 is now in “security fixes only” stage of its life cycle: 3.8 branch only accepts security fixes and releases of those are made irregularly in source-only form until October 2024. Python 3.8 isn’t receiving regular bug fixes anymore, and binary installers are no longer provided for it. Python 3.8.10 was the last full bugfix release of Python 3.8 with binary installers.

Security releases of 3.7.12 and 3.6.15

Those aren’t ready just yet but are soon to follow.

Similarly to 3.8, Python 3.7 and 3.6 are now in “security fixes only” stage of their life cycle. Python 3.7 will be providing source archives until June 2023 while Python 3.6 ends its life in December 2021.

We hope you enjoy the new releases

Your friendly release team,
Ned Deily @nad
Steve Dower @steve.dower
Łukasz Langa @ambv

Tuesday, August 3, 2021

Python 3.10.0rc1 is available

Python 3.10.0 is almost ready. This release, 3.10.0rc1, is the penultimate release preview. You can get it here:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-3100rc1/

This release, **3.10.0rc1**, is the penultimate release preview. Entering the release candidate phase, only reviewed code changes which are

clear bug fixes are allowed between this release candidate and the final release. The second candidate and the last planned release preview is

currently planned for 2021-09-06 while the official release is planned for 2021-10-04.

There will be no ABI changes from this point forward in the 3.10 series and the goal is that there will be as few code changes as possible.

Call to action

Core developers: all eyes on the docs now

Are all your changes properly documented?
Did you notice other changes you know of to have insufficient documentation?

Community members

We strongly encourage maintainers of third-party Python projects to prepare their projects for 3.10 compatibilities during this phase. As always, report any issues to the Python bug tracker.

Please keep in mind that this is a preview release and its use is **not** recommended for production environments.

Major new features of the 3.10 series, compared to 3.9

Many new features for Python 3.10 are still being planned and written. Among the new major new features and changes so far:

PEP 623 – Deprecate and prepare for the removal of the wstr member in PyUnicodeObject.
PEP 604 – Allow writing union types as X | Y
PEP 612 – Parameter Specification Variables
PEP 626 – Precise line numbers for debugging and other tools.
PEP 618 – Add Optional Length-Checking To zip.
bpo-12782: Parenthesized context managers are now officially allowed.
PEP 632 – Deprecate distutils module.
PEP 613 – Explicit Type Aliases
PEP 634 – Structural Pattern Matching: Specification
PEP 635 – Structural Pattern Matching: Motivation and Rationale
PEP 636 – Structural Pattern Matching: Tutorial
PEP 644 – Require OpenSSL 1.1.1 or newer
PEP 624 – Remove Py_UNICODE encoder APIs
PEP 597 – Add optional EncodingWarning
(Hey, fellow core developer, if a feature you find important is missing from this list, let Pablo know.)

The next pre-release, the second release candidate, will only be released if needed (scheduled for Monday, 2021-09-06). Otherwise, the next release will directly be the final release of Python 3.10.0, which is currently scheduled for Monday, 2021-10-04.

More resources

And now for something completely different

In quantum physics, the spin is an intrinsic form of angular momentum carried by elementary particles, composite particles, and atomic nuclei. The spin is one of two types of angular momentum in quantum mechanics, the other being orbital angular momentum. The orbital angular momentum operator is the quantum-mechanical counterpart to the classical angular momentum of orbital revolution and appears when there is periodic structure to its wavefunction as the angle varies. For photons, spin is the quantum-mechanical counterpart of the polarization of light; for electrons, the spin has no classical counterpart.

We hope you enjoy those new releases!

Your friendly release team,

Pablo Galindo @pablogsal

Ned Deily @nad

Steve Dower @steve.dower

Saturday, July 10, 2021

Python 3.10.0b4 is available

Wow! A release on a Saturday? Do the release management team even rest? You better believe it, because this is the last of the planned beta releases. This means that the next pre-release will be the first release candidate of Python 3.10.0. Remember that our goal is to have no ABI changes after this beta and a few code changes as possible after 3.10.0rc1.

The final release is closer and closer.... just a few more months!

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-3100b4/

This is a beta preview of Python 3.10

Python 3.10 is still in development. 3.10.0b4 is the fourth and last of the beta release previews. Beta release previews are intended to give the wider community the opportunity to test new features and bug fixes and to prepare their projects to support the new feature release.

We **strongly encourage** maintainers of third-party Python projects to **test with 3.10** during the beta phase and report issues found to [the Python bug tracker](https://bugs.python.org/) as soon as possible. While the release is planned to be feature complete entering the beta phase, it is possible that features may be modified or, in rare cases, deleted up until the start of the release candidate phase (Monday, 2021-08-02). Our goal is to have no ABI changes after beta 4 and as few code changes as possible after 3.10.0rc1, the first release candidate. To achieve that, it will be **extremely important** to get as much exposure for 3.10 as possible during the beta phase.

Please keep in mind that this is a preview release and its use is **not** recommended for production environments.

Major new features of the 3.10 series, compared to 3.9

Many new features for Python 3.10 are still being planned and written. Among the new major new features and changes so far:

PEP 623 – Deprecate and prepare for the removal of the wstr member in PyUnicodeObject.
PEP 604 – Allow writing union types as X | Y
PEP 612 – Parameter Specification Variables
PEP 626 – Precise line numbers for debugging and other tools.
PEP 618 – Add Optional Length-Checking To zip.
bpo-12782: Parenthesized context managers are now officially allowed.
PEP 632 – Deprecate distutils module.
PEP 613 – Explicit Type Aliases
PEP 634 – Structural Pattern Matching: Specification
PEP 635 – Structural Pattern Matching: Motivation and Rationale
PEP 636 – Structural Pattern Matching: Tutorial
PEP 644 – Require OpenSSL 1.1.1 or newer
PEP 624 – Remove Py_UNICODE encoder APIs
PEP 597 – Add optional EncodingWarning
(Hey, fellow core developer, if a feature you find important is missing from this list, let Pablo know.)

The next pre-release, the first release candidate of Python 3.10.0, will be 3.10.0rc1. It is currently scheduled for Monday, 2021-08-02.

More resources

And now for something completely different

We hope you enjoy those new releases!

Your friendly release team,

Pablo Galindo @pablogsal

Ned Deily @nad

Steve Dower @steve.dower

Monday, June 28, 2021

Python 3.9.6, 3.8.11, 3.7.11, and 3.6.14 are now available

Python 3.9.6

Get it here: https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-396/

Python 3.9.6 is the newest major stable release of the Python programming language, and it contains many new features and optimizations. There’s been 146 commits since 3.9.5 which is a similar amount compared to 3.8 at the same stage of the release cycle. See the change log for details.

On macOS, we encourage you to use the universal2 binary installer variant whenever possible. The legacy 10.9+ Intel-only variant will not be provided for Python 3.10 and the universal2 variant will become the default download for future 3.9.x releases. You may need to upgrade third-party components, like pip, to later versions once they are released. You may experience differences in behavior in IDLE and other Tk-based applications due to using the newer version of Tk. As always, if you encounter problems when using this installer variant, please check https://bugs.python.org for existing reports and for opening new issues.

The next Python 3.9 maintenance release will be 3.9.7, currently scheduled for 2021-08-30.

The First Security-Only Release of Python 3.8

Get it here: https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-3811/

Security content in this release contains three fixes. There’s also two fixes for 3.8.10 regressions. Take a look at the change log for details.

According to the release calendar specified in PEP 569, Python 3.8 is now in security fixes only stage of its life cycle: 3.8 branch only accepts security fixes and releases of those are made irregularly in source-only form until October 2024. Python 3.8 isn’t receiving regular bugfixes anymore, and binary installers are no longer provided for it. Python 3.8.10 was the last full bugfix release of Python 3.8 with binary installers.

Security releases of 3.7.11 and 3.6.14

Get them here:
https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-3711/
https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-3614/

Security content in those releases contains five fixes each. Check out the relevant change logs for 3.7.11 and 3.6.14 for details.

Similarly to 3.8, Python 3.7 and 3.6 are now in security fixes only stage of their life cycle. Python 3.7 will be providing them until June 2023 while Python 3.6 ends its life in December 2021.

We hope you enjoy the new releases

Your friendly release team,
Ned Deily @nad
Steve Dower @steve.dower
Łukasz Langa @ambv

Thursday, June 17, 2021

Python 3.10.0b3 is available

Summer is almost here (at least in half of the planet) and Python 3.10 is finishing baking in the oven. For those of you that want to taste it before is finally ready (and if you are a library developer, you certainly do!) you can have the second-to-last beta now, but be careful as is very hot

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-3100b3/

This is a beta preview of Python 3.10

Python 3.10 is still in development. 3.10.0b3 is the third of four planned beta release previews. Beta release previews are intended to give the wider community the opportunity to test new features and bug fixes and to prepare their projects to support the new feature release.

Please keep in mind that this is a preview release and its use is **not** recommended for production environments.

Major new features of the 3.10 series, compared to 3.9

Many new features for Python 3.10 are still being planned and written. Among the new major new features and changes so far:

PEP 623 – Deprecate and prepare for the removal of the wstr member in PyUnicodeObject.
PEP 604 – Allow writing union types as X | Y
PEP 612 – Parameter Specification Variables
PEP 626 – Precise line numbers for debugging and other tools.
PEP 618 – Add Optional Length-Checking To zip.
bpo-12782: Parenthesized context managers are now officially allowed.
PEP 632 – Deprecate distutils module.
PEP 613 – Explicit Type Aliases
PEP 634 – Structural Pattern Matching: Specification
PEP 635 – Structural Pattern Matching: Motivation and Rationale
PEP 636 – Structural Pattern Matching: Tutorial
PEP 644 – Require OpenSSL 1.1.1 or newer
PEP 624 – Remove Py_UNICODE encoder APIs
PEP 597 – Add optional EncodingWarning
(Hey, fellow core developer, if a feature you find important is missing from this list, let Pablo know.)

The next pre-release of Python 3.10 will be 3.10.0b4, currently scheduled for Saturday, 2021-07-10.

More resources

And now for something completely different

There are no green stars. Why? In general, objects don't emit a single wavelength of light when they shine. Instead, they emit photons in a range of wavelengths. If you were to use some sort of detector that is sensitive to the wavelengths of light emitted by an object, and then plotted the number of them versus wavelength, you get a lopsided plot called a blackbody curve. For an object as hot as the Sun, that curve peaks at blue-green, so it emits most of its photons there. But it still emits some that are bluer, and some that are redder. When we look at the Sun, we see all these colors blended together. Our eyes mix them up to produce one color: white. A warmer star will put out more blue, and a cooler one redder, but no matter what, our eyes just won't see that as green. Due to how we perceive color, the only way to see a star as being green is for it to be only emitting green light. But as starts always emit radiation following the blackbody curve, that's pretty much impossible.

We hope you enjoy those new releases!

Your friendly release team,

Pablo Galindo @pablogsal

Ned Deily @nad

Steve Dower @steve.dower