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

• Online Documentation
• PEP 569, 3.8 Release Schedule
• Report bugs at https://bugs.python.org.
• Help fund Python and its community.

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