Hi everyone!

Thank you for all of your work so far on our next feature release cycle, Python 3.6. Code checkins for 3.6 began 12 months ago, after the feature code cutoff and beta phase for Python 3.5.0. We are now about to do 3.6.0 alpha 1, our first of 4 alpha and 4 beta releases planned for the next 6 months.

As a reminder, alpha releases are intended to make it easier for the wider community to test the current state of new features and bug fixes for an upcoming Python release as a whole and for us to test the release process. The start of the alpha phase does *not* mean feature development is complete. During the alpha phase, features may be added, modified, or deleted up until the start of the beta phase. Alpha users beware!

3.6.0 beta 1, currently scheduled for 2016-09-07, marks feature code cutoff, at which time new feature development is expected to be complete and no additional features are to be added to 3.6. At the same time, feature development will begin for the following release cycle, 3.7. During the 3.6.0 beta phase, which is planned to end on 2016-12-04 with the first final release candidate, the focus will be on bug fixes and regressions and preparing for the final release. The goal is for the first release candidate to be the same as the final release: that is, no changes will be accepted for 3.6.0 after release candidate 1 without discussion, review, and release manager approval. Please plan accordingly!

Although I've been involved behind the scenes in most releases over the past several years, 3.6.0a1 will be my first as a release manager so no doubt there will be bumps along the way. Many thanks to my fellow release managers, particularly Benjamin, Georg, Larry, and Barry, for their help and support. Your understanding, help, and feedback will be greatly appreciated!

For this first alpha release at least, the release team (primarily Steve Dower and myself) are going to try a slightly different timetable for producing the release. We are planning for the code cutoff for alpha 1 to be on 2016-05-16 around 12:00 UTC; that allows for code checkins to continue through Sunday almost anywhere on the planet. We will then go off and manufacture the release bits and make them available via the python.org website as soon as possible thereafter, assuming no major glitches, that should be no later than 24 hours thereafter.

In the remaining hours until the code cutoff, please get your commits in as soon as possible and please pay attention to the buildbots for possible regressions.

Looking ahead, the next alpha release, 3.6.0a2, will follow in about a month on 2016-06-12, which is a week after the end of the development sprints at US PyCon 2016 in Portland, Oregon. Hope to see you there!

To summarize:

2016-05-16 ~12:00 UTC: code snapshot for 3.6.0 alpha 1

now to 2016-09-07: Alpha phase (unrestricted feature development)

2016-09-07: 3.6.0 feature code freeze, 3.7.0 feature development begins

2016-09-07 to 2016-12-04: 3.6.0 beta phase (bug and regression fixes, no new features)

2016-12-04 3.6.0 release candidate 1 (3.6.0 code freeze)

2016-12-16 3.6.0 release (3.6.0rc1 plus, if necessary, any dire emergency fixes)

Let me know if you have questions or comments. And thanks again for all of your work towards making Python even better!

--Ned D AKA The Other Ned

https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0494/ https://docs.python.org/devguide/devcycle.html#stages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle#Alpha https://docs.python.org/devguide/buildbots.html

-- Ned Deily nad@python.org -- [] Freenode IRC: ned_deily, #python-dev