Python

Python is an open source, portable, free, customizable, effective and modern programming language that offers a wide range of attractive functionality and allows application developers to create software projects that are fully compatible with all mainstream operating systems.

Command-line options

Default command-line options include optimization of the generated bytecode, optimize generated bytecode and remove doc-strings, usage of non-UNIX forms of #!cmd by skipping the first line of the source, protection from DoS (Denial of Service) attacks by making hash() values of various types be unpredictable, using pseudo-random salt.

In addition, the program will also allows you to add various division options, such as -Qnew, Qwarn, Qold and Qwarnall, issue warnings about incompatible tab usage, run the program in verbose mode, get warnings about Python 3.x incompatibilities, as well as to debug output from parser and ignore PYTHON* environment variables.

Getting started with Python

The Python programming language is often compared with the Java, Perl, Scheme or Tcl programming/scripting languages. It is compatible with all GNU/Linux distributions, as well as with the Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Solaris, BSD, and several other UNIX-like operating systems. Currently, it is compatible with both 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x86_64) architectures.

Installing Python on your system is quite an easy tasks, as all you have to do is to access the default package manager of your GNU/Linux system and search for the ‘python’ package. Install it and then interact with it via a Linux terminal emulator.

Hardcore Linux/UNIX users who want to optimize Python for their hardware architecture, can do so by download the latest version of the project from Softoware, save the source tarball (tar.xz file) on their computer, unpack it, open a terminal emulator and navigate to the location of the extracted archive files with the ‘cd’ command.

Use the ‘./configure’ command to make certain optimizations and then execute the ‘make’ command to compile Python. Lastly, install Python system wide by running the ‘make install’ command as root or with sudo.

What is new in this release:

• Library:
• [Security] bpo-30730: Prevent environment variables injection in subprocess on Windows. Prevent passing other environment variables and command arguments.
• [Security] bpo-30694: Upgrade expat copy from 2.2.0 to 2.2.1 to get fixes of multiple security vulnerabilities including: CVE-2017-9233 (External entity infinite loop DoS), CVE-2016-9063 (Integer overflow, re-fix), CVE-2016-0718 (Fix regression bugs from 2.2.0's fix to CVE-2016-0718) and CVE-2012-0876 (Counter hash flooding with SipHash). Note: the CVE-2016-5300 (Use os-specific entropy sources like getrandom) doesn't impact Python, since Python already gets entropy from the OS to set the expat secret using XML_SetHashSalt().
• [Security] bpo-30500: Fix urllib.parse.splithost() to correctly parse fragments. For example, splithost('//127.0.0.1#@evil.com/') now correctly returns the 127.0.0.1 host, instead of treating @evil.com as the host in an authentification (login@host).

What is new in version :

• Library:
• [Security] bpo-30730: Prevent environment variables injection in subprocess on Windows. Prevent passing other environment variables and command arguments.
• [Security] bpo-30694: Upgrade expat copy from 2.2.0 to 2.2.1 to get fixes of multiple security vulnerabilities including: CVE-2017-9233 (External entity infinite loop DoS), CVE-2016-9063 (Integer overflow, re-fix), CVE-2016-0718 (Fix regression bugs from 2.2.0's fix to CVE-2016-0718) and CVE-2012-0876 (Counter hash flooding with SipHash). Note: the CVE-2016-5300 (Use os-specific entropy sources like getrandom) doesn't impact Python, since Python already gets entropy from the OS to set the expat secret using XML_SetHashSalt().
• [Security] bpo-30500: Fix urllib.parse.splithost() to correctly parse fragments. For example, splithost('//127.0.0.1#@evil.com/') now correctly returns the 127.0.0.1 host, instead of treating @evil.com as the host in an authentification (login@host).

What is new in version 3.6.1 / 3.6.2 RC1:

• PEP 441, improved Python zip application support
• PEP 448, additional unpacking generalizations
• PEP 461, "%-formatting" for bytes and bytearray objects
• PEP 465, a new operator (@) for matrix multiplication
• PEP 471, os.scandir(), a fast new directory traversal function
• PEP 475, adding support for automatic retries of interrupted system calls
• PEP 479, change StopIteration handling inside generators
• PEP 484, the typing module, a new standard for type annotations
• PEP 485, math.isclose(), a function for testing approximate equality
• PEP 486, making the Windows Python launcher aware of virtual environments
• PEP 488, eliminating .pyo files
• PEP 489, a new and improved mechanism for loading extension modules
• PEP 492, coroutines with async and await syntax

What is new in version 3.6.1:

• PEP 441, improved Python zip application support
• PEP 448, additional unpacking generalizations
• PEP 461, "%-formatting" for bytes and bytearray objects
• PEP 465, a new operator (@) for matrix multiplication
• PEP 471, os.scandir(), a fast new directory traversal function
• PEP 475, adding support for automatic retries of interrupted system calls
• PEP 479, change StopIteration handling inside generators
• PEP 484, the typing module, a new standard for type annotations
• PEP 485, math.isclose(), a function for testing approximate equality
• PEP 486, making the Windows Python launcher aware of virtual environments
• PEP 488, eliminating .pyo files
• PEP 489, a new and improved mechanism for loading extension modules
• PEP 492, coroutines with async and await syntax

What is new in version 3.6.0:

• PEP 441, improved Python zip application support
• PEP 448, additional unpacking generalizations
• PEP 461, "%-formatting" for bytes and bytearray objects
• PEP 465, a new operator (@) for matrix multiplication
• PEP 471, os.scandir(), a fast new directory traversal function
• PEP 475, adding support for automatic retries of interrupted system calls
• PEP 479, change StopIteration handling inside generators
• PEP 484, the typing module, a new standard for type annotations
• PEP 485, math.isclose(), a function for testing approximate equality
• PEP 486, making the Windows Python launcher aware of virtual environments
• PEP 488, eliminating .pyo files
• PEP 489, a new and improved mechanism for loading extension modules
• PEP 492, coroutines with async and await syntax

What is new in version 3.5.2:

• PEP 441, improved Python zip application support
• PEP 448, additional unpacking generalizations
• PEP 461, "%-formatting" for bytes and bytearray objects
• PEP 465, a new operator (@) for matrix multiplication
• PEP 471, os.scandir(), a fast new directory traversal function
• PEP 475, adding support for automatic retries of interrupted system calls
• PEP 479, change StopIteration handling inside generators
• PEP 484, the typing module, a new standard for type annotations
• PEP 485, math.isclose(), a function for testing approximate equality
• PEP 486, making the Windows Python launcher aware of virtual environments
• PEP 488, eliminating .pyo files
• PEP 489, a new and improved mechanism for loading extension modules
• PEP 492, coroutines with async and await syntax

What is new in version 3.5.1:

• PEP 441, improved Python zip application support
• PEP 448, additional unpacking generalizations
• PEP 461, "%-formatting" for bytes and bytearray objects
• PEP 465, a new operator (@) for matrix multiplication
• PEP 471, os.scandir(), a fast new directory traversal function
• PEP 475, adding support for automatic retries of interrupted system calls
• PEP 479, change StopIteration handling inside generators
• PEP 484, the typing module, a new standard for type annotations
• PEP 485, math.isclose(), a function for testing approximate equality
• PEP 486, making the Windows Python launcher aware of virtual environments
• PEP 488, eliminating .pyo files
• PEP 489, a new and improved mechanism for loading extension modules
• PEP 492, coroutines with async and await syntax

What is new in version 3.5.0:

• Python 3.5.0 is the newest version of the Python language, and it contains many exciting new features and optimizations.

What is new in version 3.4.3:

• This version comes with over three hundred bugfixes and other improvements over 3.4.0. One notable change: the version of OpenSSL bundled with the Windows installer no longer has the HeartBleed vulnerability.

What is new in version 3.4.2:

• This version comes with over three hundred bugfixes and other improvements over 3.4.0. One notable change: the version of OpenSSL bundled with the Windows installer no longer has the HeartBleed vulnerability.

What is new in version 3.4.0 RC1:

• PEP 380, syntax for delegating to a subgenerator (yield from)
• PEP 393, flexible string representation (doing away with the distinction between "wide" and "narrow" Unicode builds)
• A C implementation of the "decimal" module, with up to 120x speedup for decimal-heavy applications
• The import system (__import__) is based on importlib by default
• The new "lzma" module with LZMA/XZ support
• PEP 397, a Python launcher for Windows
• PEP 405, virtual environment support in core
• PEP 420, namespace package support
• PEP 3151, reworking the OS and IO exception hierarchy
• PEP 3155, qualified name for classes and functions
• PEP 409, suppressing exception context
• PEP 414, explicit Unicode literals to help with porting
• PEP 418, extended platform-independent clocks in the "time" module
• PEP 412, a new key-sharing dictionary implementation that significantly saves memory for object-oriented code
• PEP 362, the function-signature object
• The new "faulthandler" module that helps diagnosing crashes
• The new "unittest.mock" module
• The new "ipaddress" module
• The "sys.implementation" attribute
• A policy framework for the email package, with a provisional (see PEP 411) policy that adds much improved unicode support for email header parsing
• A "collections.ChainMap" class for linking mappings to a single unit
• Wrappers for many more POSIX functions in the "os" and "signal" modules, as well as other useful functions such as "sendfile()"
• Hash randomization, introduced in earlier bugfix releases, is now switched on by default

What is new in version 3.4.0 Beta 2:

• PEP 428, a "pathlib" module providing object-oriented filesystem paths
• PEP 435, a standardized "enum" module
• PEP 436, a build enhancement that will help generate introspection information for builtins
• PEP 442, improved semantics for object finalization
• PEP 443, adding single-dispatch generic functions to the standard library
• PEP 445, a new C API for implementing custom memory allocators
• PEP 446, changing file descriptors to not be inherited by default in subprocesses
• PEP 450, a new "statistics" module
• PEP 451, standardizing module metadata for Python's module import system
• PEP 453, a bundled installer for the pip package manager
• PEP 454, a new "tracemalloc" module for tracing Python memory allocations
• PEP 456, a new hash algorithm for Python strings and binary data
• PEP 3154, a new and improved protocol for pickled objects
• PEP 3156, a new "asyncio" module, a new framework for asynchronous I/O

What is new in version 3.4.0 Beta 1:

• PEP 428, a "pathlib" module providing object-oriented filesystem paths
• PEP 435, a standardized "enum" module
• PEP 436, a build enhancement that will help generate introspection information for builtins
• PEP 442, improved semantics for object finalization
• PEP 443, adding single-dispatch generic functions to the standard library
• PEP 445, a new C API for implementing custom memory allocators
• PEP 446, changing file descriptors to not be inherited by default in subprocesses
• PEP 450, a new "statistics" module
• PEP 451, standardizing module metadata for Python's module import system
• PEP 453, a bundled installer for the pip package manager
• PEP 454, a new "tracemalloc" module for tracing Python memory allocations
• PEP 456, a new hash algorithm for Python strings and binary data
• PEP 3154, a new and improved protocol for pickled objects
• PEP 3156, a new "asyncio" module, a new framework for asynchronous I/O

What is new in version 3.4.0 Alpha 4:

• PEP 435, a standardized "enum" module
• PEP 436, a build enhancement that will help generate introspection information for builtins
• PEP 442, improved semantics for object finalization
• PEP 443, adding single-dispatch generic functions to the standard library
• PEP 445, a new C API for implementing custom memory allocators
• PEP 446, changing file descriptors to not be inherited by default in subprocesses
• PEP 450, the new "statistics" module
• PEP 3156, the new "asyncio" module, a new framework for asynchronous I/O

What is new in version 2.7.6:

• An ordered dictionary type
• New unittest features including test skipping, new assert methods, and test discovery
• A much faster io module
• Automatic numbering of fields in the str.format() method
• Float repr improvements backported from 3.x
• Tile support for Tkinter
• A backport of the memoryview object from 3.x
• Set literals
• Set and dictionary comprehensions
• Dictionary views
• New syntax for nested with statements
• The sysconfig module

What is new in version 3.2.5:

• numerous improvements to the unittest module
• PEP 3147, support for .pyc repository directories
• PEP 3149, support for version tagged dynamic libraries
• PEP 3148, a new futures library for concurrent programming
• PEP 384, a stable ABI for extension modules
• PEP 391, dictionary-based logging configuration
• an overhauled GIL implementation that reduces contention
• an extended email package that handles bytes messages
• a much improved ssl module with support for SSL contexts and certificate hostname matching
• a sysconfig module to access configuration information
• additions to the shutil module, among them archive file support
• many enhancements to configparser, among them mapping protocol support
• improvements to pdb, the Python debugger
• countless fixes regarding bytes/string issues; among them full support for a bytes environment (filenames, environment variables)
• many consistency and behavior fixes for numeric operations

What is new in version 3.3.2:

• PEP 380, syntax for delegating to a subgenerator (yield from)
• PEP 393, flexible string representation (doing away with the distinction between "wide" and "narrow" Unicode builds)
• A C implementation of the "decimal" module, with up to 120x speedup for decimal-heavy applications
• The import system (__import__) is based on importlib by default
• The new "lzma" module with LZMA/XZ support
• PEP 397, a Python launcher for Windows
• PEP 405, virtual environment support in core
• PEP 420, namespace package support
• PEP 3151, reworking the OS and IO exception hierarchy
• PEP 3155, qualified name for classes and functions
• PEP 409, suppressing exception context
• PEP 414, explicit Unicode literals to help with porting
• PEP 418, extended platform-independent clocks in the "time" module
• PEP 412, a new key-sharing dictionary implementation that significantly saves memory for object-oriented code
• PEP 362, the function-signature object
• The new "faulthandler" module that helps diagnosing crashes
• The new "unittest.mock" module
• The new "ipaddress" module
• The "sys.implementation" attribute
• A policy framework for the email package, with a provisional (see PEP 411) policy that adds much improved unicode support for email header parsing
• A "collections.ChainMap" class for linking mappings to a single unit
• Wrappers for many more POSIX functions in the "os" and "signal" modules, as well as other useful functions such as "sendfile()"
• Hash randomization, introduced in earlier bugfix releases, is now switched on by default

What is new in version 3.3.0:

• PEP 380, syntax for delegating to a subgenerator (yield from)
• PEP 393, flexible string representation (doing away with the distinction between "wide" and "narrow" Unicode builds)
• A C implementation of the "decimal" module, with up to 120x speedup for decimal-heavy applications
• The import system (__import__) is based on importlib by default
• The new "lzma" module with LZMA/XZ support
• PEP 397, a Python launcher for Windows
• PEP 405, virtual environment support in core
• PEP 420, namespace package support
• PEP 3151, reworking the OS and IO exception hierarchy
• PEP 3155, qualified name for classes and functions
• PEP 409, suppressing exception context
• PEP 414, explicit Unicode literals to help with porting
• PEP 418, extended platform-independent clocks in the "time" module
• PEP 412, a new key-sharing dictionary implementation that significantly saves memory for object-oriented code
• PEP 362, the function-signature object
• The new "faulthandler" module that helps diagnosing crashes
• The new "unittest.mock" module
• The new "ipaddress" module
• The "sys.implementation" attribute
• A policy framework for the email package, with a provisional (see PEP 411) policy that adds much improved unicode support for email header parsing
• A "collections.ChainMap" class for linking mappings to a single unit
• Wrappers for many more POSIX functions in the "os" and "signal" modules, as well as other useful functions such as "sendfile()"
• Hash randomization, introduced in earlier bugfix releases, is now switched on by default