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Questions and Answers
What was the initial end-of-life date for Python 2.7?
Which Python versions are currently supported as of 2023?
What is the purpose of the 2to3 utility in Python 3?
What was released in May 2022, with the announcement that it would only receive security fixes in the future?
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What is a notable change in Python 3.11 compared to 3.10?
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Which Python implementation continues to support Python 2?
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What is a new feature added in Python 3.12?
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Why were the releases 3.10.7, 3.9.14, 3.8.14, and 3.7.14 made on 7 September 2022?
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What is the primary focus of Python's design philosophy?
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What type of programming language is Python?
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What programming paradigms does Python support?
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What is Python often described as due to its comprehensive standard library?
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Who began working on Python in the late 1980s?
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What was the first release of Python?
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What was the major revision of Python released in 2008?
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What was the title bestowed upon Guido van Rossum by the Python community?
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Study Notes
General Features of Python
- Python is a high-level, general-purpose programming language.
- It emphasizes code readability with significant indentation.
- Python is dynamically typed and garbage-collected.
- It supports multiple programming paradigms, including structured, object-oriented, and functional programming.
History of Python
- Python was invented in the late 1980s by Guido van Rossum at Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) in the Netherlands.
- Van Rossum was the sole lead developer until 2018, when he stepped down as the "benevolent dictator for life" (BDFL).
- A five-member Steering Council was elected in 2019 to lead the project.
Releases of Python
- Python 2.0 was released in 2000 with many major new features, including list comprehensions, cycle-detecting garbage collection, and Unicode support.
- Python 3.0 was released in 2008 with many major new features, and its end-of-life was initially set for 2015, then postponed to 2020.
- Python 2.7's end-of-life was in 2020, and no further security patches or improvements will be released for it.
- Currently, only Python 3.8 and later versions are supported, with security issues being fixed in newer versions.
Unofficial Python Implementation
- PyPy, an unofficial Python implementation, continues to support Python 2 with backported security updates.
Security Updates
- In 2021 and 2022, security updates were expedited due to security issues in all Python versions, including 2.7.
- The 3.9 series will only receive security fixes in the future.
- As of October 2023, Python 3.12 is the stable release, and 3.12 and 3.11 are the only versions with active support.
Recent Changes
- Python 3.11 includes increased program execution speed and improved error reporting.
- Python 3.12 adds new syntax, including a new type union operator, and improves exception handling and typing support.
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Description
Learn about Python, a high-level, general-purpose programming language that emphasizes code readability and supports multiple programming paradigms. Discover its features, design philosophy, and applications.
