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This is Python version 3.1 alpha 1
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==================================
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For notes specific to this release, see RELNOTES in this directory.
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Copyright (c) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
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Python Software Foundation.
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Python 3.x is a new version of the language, which is incompatible with the
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2.x line of releases. The language is mostly the same, but many details,
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especially how built-in objects like dictionaries and strings work, have
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changed considerably, and a lot of deprecated features have finally been
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This is an ongoing project; the cleanup isn't expected to be complete
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until some time in 2008. In particular there are plans to reorganize
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the standard library namespace.
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See PEP 375 for release details: http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0375/
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Documentation for Python 3.1 is online, updated twice a day:
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http://docs.python.org/dev/3.1/
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All documentation is also available online at the Python web site
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(http://docs.python.org/, see below). It is available online for
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occasional reference, or can be downloaded in many formats for faster
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access. The documentation is downloadable in HTML, PostScript, PDF,
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LaTeX (through 2.5), and reStructuredText (2.6+) formats; the LaTeX and
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reStructuredText versions are primarily for documentation authors,
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translators, and people with special formatting requirements.
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This is a work in progress; please help improve it!
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The design documents for Python 3 are also online. While the reference
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documentation is being updated, the PEPs are often the best source of
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information about new features. Start by reading PEP 3000:
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http://python.org/dev/peps/pep-3000/
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For an overview of what's new in Python 3, see Guido van Rossum's blog at
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http://www.artima.com/weblogs/index.jsp?blogger=guido
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We try to eventually have a comprehensive overview of the changes in
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the "What's New in Python 3.1" document, found at
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http://docs.python.org/dev/3.1/whatsnew/3.1
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For a more detailed change log, read Misc/NEWS (though this file, too,
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is incomplete, and also doesn't list anything merged in from the 2.6
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release under development).
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If you want to install multiple versions of Python see the section below
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entitled "Installing multiple versions".
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Proposals for enhancement
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-------------------------
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If you have a proposal to change Python, you may want to send an email to the
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comp.lang.python or python-ideas mailing lists for inital feedback. A Python
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Enhancement Proposal (PEP) may be submitted if your idea gains ground. All
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current PEPs, as well as guidelines for submitting a new PEP, are listed at
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http://www.python.org/dev/peps/.
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Converting From Python 2.x to 3.x
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---------------------------------
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Python starting with 2.6 will contain features to help locating code that
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needs to be changed, such as optional warnings when deprecated features are
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used, and backported versions of certain key Python 3.x features.
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To test the interpreter, type "make test" in the top-level directory.
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This runs the test set twice (once with no compiled files, once with
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the compiled files left by the previous test run). The test set
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produces some output. You can generally ignore the messages about
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skipped tests due to optional features which can't be imported.
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If a message is printed about a failed test or a traceback or core
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dump is produced, something is wrong. On some Linux systems (those
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that are not yet using glibc 6), test_strftime fails due to a
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non-standard implementation of strftime() in the C library. Please
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ignore this, or upgrade to glibc version 6.
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By default, tests are prevented from overusing resources like disk space and
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memory. To enable these tests, run "make testall".
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IMPORTANT: If the tests fail and you decide to mail a bug report,
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*don't* include the output of "make test". It is useless. Run the
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failing test manually, as follows:
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./python Lib/test/regrtest.py -v test_whatever
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(substituting the top of the source tree for '.' if you built in a
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different directory). This runs the test in verbose mode.
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Installing multiple versions
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----------------------------
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On Unix and Mac systems if you intend to install multiple versions of Python
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using the same installation prefix (--prefix argument to the configure
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script) you must take care that your primary python executable is not
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overwritten by the installation of a different versio. All files and
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directories installed using "make altinstall" contain the major and minor
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version and can thus live side-by-side. "make install" also creates
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${prefix}/bin/python which refers to ${prefix}/bin/pythonX.Y. If you intend
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to install multiple versions using the same prefix you must decide which
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version (if any) is your "primary" version. Install that version using
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"make install". Install all other versions using "make altinstall".
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For example, if you want to install Python 2.5, 2.6 and 3.0 with 2.6 being
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the primary version, you would execute "make install" in your 2.6 build
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directory and "make altinstall" in the others.
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Configuration options and variables
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-----------------------------------
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A source-to-source translation tool, "2to3", can take care of the
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mundane task of converting large amounts of source code. It is not a
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complete solution but is complemented by the deprecation warnings in
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2.6. This tool is currently available via the Subversion sandbox:
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http://svn.python.org/view/sandbox/trunk/2to3/
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Issue Tracker and Mailing List
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------------------------------
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We're soliciting bug reports about all aspects of the language. Fixes
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are also welcome, preferable in unified diff format. Please use the
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http://bugs.python.org/
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If you're not sure whether you're dealing with a bug or a feature, use
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python-dev@python.org
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To subscribe to the list, use the mailman form:
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http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-dev/
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On Unix, Linux, BSD, OSX, and Cygwin:
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sudo make install # or "make altinstall"
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You can pass many options to the configure script; run "./configure
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--help" to find out more. On OSX and Cygwin, the executable is called
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python.exe; elsewhere it's just python.
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On Mac OS X, if you have configured Python with --enable-framework,
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you should use "make frameworkinstall" to do the installation. Note
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that this installs the Python executable in a place that is not
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normally on your PATH, you may want to set up a symlink in
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On Windows, see PCbuild/readme.txt.
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If you wish, you can create a subdirectory and invoke configure from
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../configure --with-pydebug
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(This will fail if you *also* built at the top-level directory. You
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should do a "make clean" at the toplevel first.)
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Copyright and License Information
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---------------------------------
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Copyright (c) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
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Python Software Foundation.
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Copyright (c) 2000 BeOpen.com.
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Copyright (c) 1995-2001 Corporation for National Research Initiatives.
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Copyright (c) 1991-1995 Stichting Mathematisch Centrum.
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See the file "LICENSE" for information on the history of this
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software, terms & conditions for usage, and a DISCLAIMER OF ALL
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This Python distribution contains *no* GNU General Public License
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(GPL) code, so it may be used in proprietary projects. There are
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interfaces to some GNU code but these are entirely optional.
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All trademarks referenced herein are property of their respective