python-committers January 2021

python-committers@python.org

7 participants
4 discussions

metaclass names and backwards compatibility

by Ethan Furman

The question: Can we change the name of classes if we keep the old name as an alias? The specifics: When Enum was first created for 3.4 I thought the name `EnumMeta` was clever and appropriate. However, in the intervening years an error message has occasionally popped up with mention of an "EnumMeta object", and it invariably makes me think harder about what object it's talking about than I think I should have to. I would like to rename `EnumMeta` to `EnumType`, with an assignment of `EnumMeta = EnumType` at the end. The only affect this should have is that those occasional error messages will now say "EnumType object" which will fit my brain better. Since we are allowed to change `repr()`s between major releases I thought this might be allowed, but wanted to check. -- ~Ethan~

6 months

[HELP WANTED] Do you see yourself chairing the Python Language Summit at PyCon US next year? Come talk to us!

by Łukasz Langa

Hi there, Mariatta and I are about to kick off preparations for the Language Summit at PyCon US this year. We've been doing this since 2019 and we feel like passing the baton to new people in 2022. We don't want to start planning anything before we have 2 people lined up to cover this post for 2022. Interested? Get in touch with us before Jan 18th! You can expect the following responsibilities if another remote Summit comes along: - write e-mails (invitations, talk acceptance and rejections, reminders); - set up video conferencing tech; - herd cats in terms of talk preparation; - moderate the event while it's happening. In-person Summits have different expectations: - you don't have to do so much in terms of video conferencing; but - you get to herd cats in real life in terms of talk slides; as well as - organize the physical space, including making sure catering works for the attendees. In any case, you should not expect the Spanish inquisition. Joking aside, we really hope to hear from you. This will make things much easier than the "kidnap and blackmail" Plan B we outlined with Mariatta last week. You have no idea how annoying international travel restrictions are these days. Cheers, Mariatta and Łukasz PS. If you're a committer just wondering about the Language Summit: yes, it's happening! It's going to be another Zoom-driven experience but hopefully we'll get to see each other in real life next year! This year it will again be split into two days: May 11th (Tuesday before the conference), and May 12th (Wednesday before the conference). Four hours each, different times each to make sure that the world of Python stays connected despite timezone challenges. Invitations, forms, and everything are coming up but we want our new 2022 chairs to be able to shadow us during this process. PS2. "Wait, what is the Language Summit?" Glad you asked! The Python Language Summit is an event for the developers of Python implementations (CPython, PyPy, Jython, and so on) to share information, discuss our shared problems, and — hopefully — solve them. One of the goals of the Language Summit is to speed up the discussions and decision making process as communication over Discourse and mailing lists is generally more time consuming.

6 months, 2 weeks

Upcoming 3.7.10 and 3.6.13 Security Releases

by Ned Deily

We are planning to produce the next security-fix rollup releases for Python 3.7.x and 3.6.x on 2021-01-15. The most recent releases for these versions were on 2020-08-17. There has not been a lot of activity for either branch since then. Core developers: if you know of any additional security issues that should be addressed in these releases, please mark the relevant bpo issues as "release blocker" and, if possible, submit PRs for review prior to the end of 2021-01-14 AOE. Thanks! -- Ned Deily nad(a)python.org -- []

6 months, 3 weeks

[RELEASE] Python 3.10.0a4 is now available

by Pablo Galindo Salgado

Happy new year to all of you. I hope you all have a great start of the year! And how to best celebrate that we have left 2020 behind that with a new Python alpha release? :) Go get it here: https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-3100a4/ *Major new features of the 3.10 series, compared to 3.9* Python 3.10 is still in development. This releasee, 3.10.0a4 is the second of six 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 (2021-05-03) and, if necessary, may be modified or deleted up until the release candidate phase (2021-10-04). Please keep in mind that this is a preview release and its use is not recommended for production environments. Many new features for Python 3.10 are still being planned and written. Among the new major new features and changes so far: * PEP 623 – Remove wstr from Unicode * PEP 604 – Allow writing union types as X | Y * PEP 612 – Parameter Specification Variables * PEP 626 – Precise line numbers for debugging and other tools. * bpo-38605: from __future__ import annotations (PEP 563) is now the default. * PEP 618 – Add Optional Length-Checking To zip. (Hey, fellow core developer, if a feature you find important is missing from this list, let me know.) The next pre-release of Python 3.10 will be 3.10.0a5, currently scheduled for 2021-02-01. *And now for something completely different* The Majumdar–Papapetrou spacetime <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudhansu_Datta_Majumdar#Majumdar%E2%80%93Papa…> is one surprising solution of the coupled Einstein-Maxwell equations that describe a cluster of static charged black holes with the gravitational and the electrostatic forces cancelling each other out. Each one of these many black holes of the multi-black holes system has a spherical topology and follows the Reissner–Nordström metric <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reissner%E2%80%93Nordstr%C3%B6m_metric>. Unsurprisingly, the movement of a test particle in such spacetime is not only a very chaotic system but also has some fractals <https://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9502014> hiding the complexity of its movement. Regards from cold London, Pablo Galindo Salgado

6 months, 3 weeks

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python-committers January 2021