Python News Roundup: September 2024
by Bartosz Zaczyński Sep 09, 2024 0 Comments community
Table of Contents
Python 3.12.5 Released
Python Remains the Top Language of 2024
Python Developers Survey 2023 Results Are In
PEP 750 Draft Introduces Tag Strings
EuroSciPy 2024 Wraps Up
What’s Next for Python?

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As the autumn leaves start to fall, signaling the transition to cooler weather, the Python community has warmed up to a series of noteworthy developments. Last month, a new maintenance release of Python 3.12.5 was introduced, reinforcing the language’s ongoing commitment to stability and security.

On a parallel note, Python continues its reign as the top programming language according to IEEE Spectrum’s annual rankings. This sentiment is echoed by the Python Developers Survey 2023 results, which reveal intriguing trends and preferences within the community.

Looking ahead, PEP 750 has proposed the addition of tag strings in Python 3.14, inspired by JavaScript’s tagged template literals. This feature aims to enhance string processing, offering developers more control and expressiveness.

Furthermore, EuroSciPy 2024 recently concluded in Poland after successfully fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration and learning. The event featured insightful talks and hands-on tutorials, spotlighting innovative tools and libraries that are advancing scientific computing with Python.

Let’s dive into the most significant Python news from the past month!

Python 3.12.5 Released
Early last month, Python 3.12.5 was released as the fifth maintenance update for the 3.12 series. Since the previous patch update in June, this release packs over 250 bug fixes, performance improvements, and documentation enhancements.

Here are the most important highlights:

Standard Library: Many modules in the standard library received crucial updates, such as fixes for crashes in ssl when the main interpreter restarts, and various corrections for error-handling mechanisms.
Core Python: The core Python runtime has several enhancements, including improvements to dictionary watchers, error messages, and fixes for edge-case crashes involving f-strings and multithreading.
Security: Key security improvements include the addition of missing audit events for interactive Python use and socket connection authentication within a fallback implementation on platforms such as Windows, where Unix inter-process communication is unavailable.
Tests: New test cases have been added and bug fixes have been applied to prevent random memory leaks during testing.
Documentation: Python documentation has been updated to remove discrepancies and clarify edge cases in multithreaded queues.
Additionally, Python 3.12.5 comes equipped with pip 24.2 by default, bringing a slew of significant improvements to enhance security, efficiency, and functionality. One of the most notable upgrades is that pip now defaults to using system certificates, bolstering security measures when managing and installing third-party packages.

A noteworthy change in pip 24.2 is the deprecation of legacy editable installations, which were traditionally handled using setup.py develop. This move marks a progressive shift towards more modern and secure practices. You can read a blog post explaining what’s new in pip 24.2 to get more insight into these changes and why they’ve been made.

Overall, Python 3.12.5 demonstrates the language’s ongoing commitment to security, performance, and developer convenience, marking another significant step forward for one of the world’s most widely used programming languages. For detailed information about all the changes, you can review the full release notes available in the official Python documentation.