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Python 3.8.2rc1

Release Date: Feb. 10, 2020

This is the release candidate of Python 3.8.2, the second maintenance release of Python 3.8

Note: The release you're looking at is Python 3.8.2rc1, a bugfix release for the legacy 3.8 series. Python 3.11 is now the latest feature release series of Python 3. Get the latest release of 3.11.x here.

Major new features of the 3.8 series, compared to 3.7

  • PEP 572, Assignment expressions
  • PEP 570, Positional-only arguments
  • PEP 587, Python Initialization Configuration (improved embedding)
  • PEP 590, Vectorcall: a fast calling protocol for CPython
  • PEP 578, Runtime audit hooks
  • PEP 574, Pickle protocol 5 with out-of-band data
  • Typing-related: PEP 591 (Final qualifier), PEP 586 (Literal types), and PEP 589 (TypedDict)
  • Parallel filesystem cache for compiled bytecode
  • Debug builds share ABI as release builds
  • f-strings support a handy = specifier for debugging
  • continue is now legal in finally: blocks
  • on Windows, the default asyncio event loop is now ProactorEventLoop
  • on macOS, the spawn start method is now used by default in multiprocessing
  • multiprocessing can now use shared memory segments to avoid pickling costs between processes
  • typed_ast is merged back to CPython
  • LOAD_GLOBAL is now 40% faster
  • pickle now uses Protocol 4 by default, improving performance

There are many other interesting changes, please consult the "What's New" page in the documentation for a full list.

More resources

Windows users

  • The binaries for AMD64 will also work on processors that implement the Intel 64 architecture. (Also known as the "x64" architecture, and formerly known as both "EM64T" and "x86-64".)
  • There are now "web-based" installers for Windows platforms; the installer will download the needed software components at installation time.
  • There are redistributable zip files containing the Windows builds, making it easy to redistribute Python as part of another software package. Please see the documentation regarding Embedded Distribution for more information.

macOS users

  • For Python 3.8, we provide one installer: 64-bit-only that works on macOS 10.9 (Mavericks) and later systems.
  • ATTENTION macOS 10.15 Catalina users! Apple has recently changed how third-party installer packages, like those provided by python.org, are notarized for verification by Gatekeeper. For the 3.8.2rc1 release preview, the python.org installer pkg does not yet meet the new requirements for notarization and so may be blocked by macOS when you try to install it. You can work around this issue by either using the System Preferences > Security & Privacy window's General tab or by control-click opening the installer package in the Finder. See How to open an app that hasn’t been notarized or is from an unidentified developer for more information. This issue will be resolved in the 3.8.2 final release.
  • Please read the "Important Information" displayed during installation for information about SSL/TLS certificate validation and the running the "Install Certificates.command".

And now for something completely different

Doctor: Well, do take a seat. What seems to be the trouble?
Williams: I've... I've just been stabbed by your nurse.
Doctor: Oh dear, yes, well I'd probably better have a look at you then. Could you fill in this form first? (he hands him a form)
Williams: She just stabbed me.
Doctor: Yes. She's an unpredictable sort. Look, you seem to be bleeding rather badly. I think you'd better hurry up and fill in that form.
Williams: Couldn't I fill it in later doctor?
Doctor: No, no. You'd have bled to death by then. Can you hold a pen?
Williams: I'll try...

Full Changelog

Files

Version Operating System Description MD5 Sum File Size GPG
Gzipped source tarball Source release 0a3754324f59f5ef2f8e81eabb262c3a 22.9 MB SIG
XZ compressed source tarball Source release 6cf690de94c8d6244dab418a2613232c 17.0 MB SIG
macOS 64-bit installer macOS for OS X 10.9 and later a44aabbddffe5da88d43bf08782d3303 27.7 MB SIG
Windows help file Windows 501688fe8f5a883eda3cdacd3bafa44a 8.1 MB SIG
Windows x86 embeddable zip file Windows 9ae97349704a8c24affc42ceb2efafcf 6.8 MB SIG
Windows x86 executable installer Windows 458e9bef868a48ed0d9e8d3531e6c7c7 25.2 MB SIG
Windows x86 web-based installer Windows ca620a90c0a6c78b7bb9e767b99666b8 1.3 MB SIG
Windows x86-64 embeddable zip file Windows for AMD64/EM64T/x64 ed22f68aa1afb97c0fc4d611d70d6ba4 7.6 MB SIG
Windows x86-64 executable installer Windows for AMD64/EM64T/x64 db0308e2010f539cf566bd2d846ab764 26.3 MB SIG
Windows x86-64 web-based installer Windows for AMD64/EM64T/x64 f6e61ee71c09df94c37b0ddf99a7a2dc 1.3 MB SIG