What’s new in Python¶

Portrait Veit Schiele

Veit Schiele
Cusy GmbH, Berlin
Python Users Berlin, 13 May 2021


slides.cusy.io/pub/pub_2021-05.html

Python is on Mars¶

LINUX Unplugged did an interview with Tim Canham, the Mars Helicopter Operations Lead.

From the 43 minute he talks about Python: How Linux Got to Mars.

See also:

  • github.com/nasa/fprime

Python 3.8.10, 3.9.5, and 3.10.0b1 are now available¶

See also:

  • Python 3.8.10, 3.9.5, and 3.10.0b1 are now available

Python 3.8.10, 3.9.5, and 3.10.0b1 are now available¶

Python 3.10.0b1¶

  • Python 3.10 is now in Beta
  • Beta release previews are intended to give the wider community the opportunity to test new features and bug fixes.
  • Third-party Python projects should test and prepare their projects to support the new feature release.
  • PEP 619 – Python 3.10 Release Schedule

Python 3.8.10, 3.9.5, and 3.10.0b1 are now available¶

Python 3.10.0b1¶

Improved error handling¶

On 9 April, Pablo Galindo, release manager for Python 3.10 and 3.11, tweeted a question to Python trainers:

Python educators and users: I have been working on improving SyntaxError messages in CPython lately. What error (only SyntaxErrors for now 😅) messages you or your students have struggle with? Which ones you think we should improve? 🤔 (Pls RT to help reaching more people 🙏).

twitter.com/pyblogsal/status/1380516575485263873

He has received many answers also to improved error messages for assignment (=) and comparison (==) operators, indentation errors, and missing colons.

See also:

  • Better error messages

Python 3.8.10, 3.9.5, and 3.10.0b1 are now available¶

Python 3.9.5¶

  • Python 3.9.5 Changelog
  • Python 3.9.5 is the newest major stable release.
  • On macOS, you should 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.

Python 3.8.10, 3.9.5, and 3.10.0b1 are now available¶

Python 3.8.10¶

  • PEP 569 – Python 3.8 Release Schedule
  • Python 3.8.10 is the final regular maintenance release.
  • Starting now, the 3.8 branch will only accept security fixes.
  • Releases will be made in source-only form until October 2024.

CPython repository switched from master to main¶

  • Community’s take on changing master branch to main
  • github.com/github/renaming

Coverage.py¶

The next version of coverage․py will be 6.0, dropping support for Python 2 and Python 3.5.

See also:

  • Comparing changes

PCA on the security incident disclosed by codecov¶

Codecov disclosed a security incident: Bash Uploader Security Update.

The PCA (Python Cryptographic Authority) noted that this has no impact on their use of codecov.

PyCon US 2021¶

https://us.pycon.org/2021

  • Tutorials: 12-13 May 2021
  • Conference: 14–15 May 2021
  • Job Fair: 16 May 2021
  • Sprints: 16-18 May 2021

Two times faster CPython in 3.11¶

Planning¶

  • The Shannon Plan
  • Based on experience with HotPy
  • Small team funded by Microsoft with Eric Snow, Mark Shannon and Guido van Rossum
  • Fully open collaboration with core devs
  • Open Issue tracker for Faster CPython project
  • Tools for gathering bytecode statistics
  • PEP 659 – Specializing Adaptive Interpreter

Two times faster CPython in 3.11¶

Constraints¶

  • ABI compatibility
  • API compatibility
  • Don’t slow down extreme cases
  • Keep code maintainable

Two times faster CPython in 3.11¶

How to¶

  • Adaptive, specialising byte code interpreter

  • Various other specialised optimisations

    • optimise frame stack
    • faster calls
    • tweak allocation
    • Zero overhead exception handling

Two times faster CPython in 3.11¶

Benefits¶

  • CPU intensive pure Python Code
  • Websites build in Python

Low benefits¶

  • Code that’s already in C
  • I/O bound code
  • Multi-threading code

Python Software Foundation¶

  • Call for nomination for the PSF board

    Nominations ends on 31 May 2021.

New in our bookshelf¶

  • Machine Learning mit Python by Sebastian Raschka und Vahid Mirjalili
  • Refactoring by Martin Fowler