blob: b13806b899eb9a367fd3a8086183b1c0a865e8b1 [file] [log] [blame]
Georg Brandl44036012012-04-10 19:28:09 +02001This is Python version 3.2.3
2============================
Guido van Rossum91447632000-04-11 17:11:09 +00003
Benjamin Petersonf606e682011-12-31 22:42:26 -06004Copyright (c) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011,
52012 Python Software Foundation. All rights reserved.
Guido van Rossum4405cf32007-08-30 17:16:55 +00006
Georg Brandla02607e2010-07-31 11:00:47 +00007Python 3.x is a new version of the language, which is incompatible with the 2.x
8line of releases. The language is mostly the same, but many details, especially
9how built-in objects like dictionaries and strings work, have changed
10considerably, and a lot of deprecated features have finally been removed.
Guido van Rossum1c896e32007-08-29 23:03:30 +000011
Guido van Rossum50e9fb92006-08-17 05:42:55 +000012
Benjamin Peterson1da43e52009-06-26 13:21:52 +000013Build Instructions
14------------------
Guido van Rossum3ff96dd1996-07-30 18:05:04 +000015
Benjamin Peterson1da43e52009-06-26 13:21:52 +000016On Unix, Linux, BSD, OSX, and Cygwin:
17
18 ./configure
19 make
20 make test
21 sudo make install
22
23This will install Python as python3.
24
Georg Brandla02607e2010-07-31 11:00:47 +000025You can pass many options to the configure script; run "./configure --help" to
26find out more. On OSX and Cygwin, the executable is called python.exe;
27elsewhere it's just python.
Benjamin Peterson1da43e52009-06-26 13:21:52 +000028
Georg Brandla02607e2010-07-31 11:00:47 +000029On Mac OS X, if you have configured Python with --enable-framework, you should
30use "make frameworkinstall" to do the installation. Note that this installs the
31Python executable in a place that is not normally on your PATH, you may want to
32set up a symlink in /usr/local/bin.
Benjamin Peterson1da43e52009-06-26 13:21:52 +000033
34On Windows, see PCbuild/readme.txt.
35
Georg Brandla02607e2010-07-31 11:00:47 +000036If you wish, you can create a subdirectory and invoke configure from there. For
37example:
Benjamin Peterson1da43e52009-06-26 13:21:52 +000038
39 mkdir debug
40 cd debug
41 ../configure --with-pydebug
42 make
43 make test
44
Georg Brandla02607e2010-07-31 11:00:47 +000045(This will fail if you *also* built at the top-level directory. You should do a
46"make clean" at the toplevel first.)
Benjamin Peterson1da43e52009-06-26 13:21:52 +000047
48
49What's New
50----------
51
52We try to have a comprehensive overview of the changes in the "What's New in
Georg Brandl62069d32010-07-31 08:56:11 +000053Python 3.2" document, found at
Benjamin Peterson1da43e52009-06-26 13:21:52 +000054
Georg Brandl75f2f822010-08-02 21:07:14 +000055 http://docs.python.org/3.2/whatsnew/3.2.html
Benjamin Peterson1da43e52009-06-26 13:21:52 +000056
Georg Brandla02607e2010-07-31 11:00:47 +000057For a more detailed change log, read Misc/NEWS (though this file, too, is
58incomplete, and also doesn't list anything merged in from the 2.7 release under
59development).
Benjamin Peterson1da43e52009-06-26 13:21:52 +000060
61If you want to install multiple versions of Python see the section below
62entitled "Installing multiple versions".
Guido van Rossum8d90f9d1997-05-22 20:13:25 +000063
Guido van Rossumf501b4e1996-10-25 14:32:48 +000064
Guido van Rossumc07d5fa2000-09-01 22:50:02 +000065Documentation
66-------------
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +000067
Georg Brandl62069d32010-07-31 08:56:11 +000068Documentation for Python 3.2 is online, updated daily:
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +000069
Georg Brandl75f2f822010-08-02 21:07:14 +000070 http://docs.python.org/3.2/
Guido van Rossumc07d5fa2000-09-01 22:50:02 +000071
Georg Brandl62069d32010-07-31 08:56:11 +000072It can also be downloaded in many formats for faster access. The documentation
73is downloadable in HTML, PDF, and reStructuredText formats; the latter version
74is primarily for documentation authors, translators, and people with special
75formatting requirements.
Benjamin Peterson2a691a82008-03-31 01:51:45 +000076
Guido van Rossumc07d5fa2000-09-01 22:50:02 +000077
Barry Warsaw97f005d2008-12-03 16:46:14 +000078Converting From Python 2.x to 3.x
Guido van Rossum1c896e32007-08-29 23:03:30 +000079---------------------------------
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +000080
Georg Brandla02607e2010-07-31 11:00:47 +000081Python starting with 2.6 contains features to help locating code that needs to
82be changed, such as optional warnings when deprecated features are used, and
83backported versions of certain key Python 3.x features.
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +000084
Benjamin Peterson1da43e52009-06-26 13:21:52 +000085A source-to-source translation tool, "2to3", can take care of the mundane task
86of converting large amounts of source code. It is not a complete solution but
87is complemented by the deprecation warnings in 2.6. See
Georg Brandl75f2f822010-08-02 21:07:14 +000088http://docs.python.org/3.2/library/2to3.html for more information.
Benjamin Peterson1da43e52009-06-26 13:21:52 +000089
Christian Heimesdd15f6c2008-03-16 00:07:10 +000090
Benjamin Petersonad3d5c22009-02-26 03:38:59 +000091Testing
92-------
93
Georg Brandla02607e2010-07-31 11:00:47 +000094To test the interpreter, type "make test" in the top-level directory. This runs
95the test set twice (once with no compiled files, once with the compiled files
96left by the previous test run). The test set produces some output. You can
97generally ignore the messages about skipped tests due to optional features which
98can't be imported. If a message is printed about a failed test or a traceback
Antoine Pitroue7fed672010-12-14 22:06:10 +000099or core dump is produced, something is wrong.
Benjamin Petersonad3d5c22009-02-26 03:38:59 +0000100
101By default, tests are prevented from overusing resources like disk space and
102memory. To enable these tests, run "make testall".
103
Georg Brandla02607e2010-07-31 11:00:47 +0000104IMPORTANT: If the tests fail and you decide to mail a bug report, *don't*
105include the output of "make test". It is useless. Run the failing test
106manually, as follows:
Benjamin Petersonad3d5c22009-02-26 03:38:59 +0000107
Antoine Pitroue7fed672010-12-14 22:06:10 +0000108 ./python -m test -v test_whatever
Benjamin Petersonad3d5c22009-02-26 03:38:59 +0000109
Georg Brandla02607e2010-07-31 11:00:47 +0000110(substituting the top of the source tree for '.' if you built in a different
111directory). This runs the test in verbose mode.
Benjamin Petersonad3d5c22009-02-26 03:38:59 +0000112
113
Christian Heimesdd15f6c2008-03-16 00:07:10 +0000114Installing multiple versions
115----------------------------
116
117On Unix and Mac systems if you intend to install multiple versions of Python
Georg Brandla02607e2010-07-31 11:00:47 +0000118using the same installation prefix (--prefix argument to the configure script)
119you must take care that your primary python executable is not overwritten by the
120installation of a different version. All files and directories installed using
121"make altinstall" contain the major and minor version and can thus live
122side-by-side. "make install" also creates ${prefix}/bin/python3 which refers to
123${prefix}/bin/pythonX.Y. If you intend to install multiple versions using the
124same prefix you must decide which version (if any) is your "primary" version.
125Install that version using "make install". Install all other versions using
126"make altinstall".
Christian Heimesdd15f6c2008-03-16 00:07:10 +0000127
Georg Brandla02607e2010-07-31 11:00:47 +0000128For example, if you want to install Python 2.5, 2.6 and 3.2 with 2.6 being the
129primary version, you would execute "make install" in your 2.6 build directory
130and "make altinstall" in the others.
Christian Heimesdd15f6c2008-03-16 00:07:10 +0000131
132
Guido van Rossum1c896e32007-08-29 23:03:30 +0000133Issue Tracker and Mailing List
134------------------------------
Michael W. Hudson71dcc3e2005-02-22 15:33:26 +0000135
Georg Brandla02607e2010-07-31 11:00:47 +0000136We're soliciting bug reports about all aspects of the language. Fixes are also
137welcome, preferable in unified diff format. Please use the issue tracker:
Fred Drake6caae142000-10-25 17:51:02 +0000138
Guido van Rossum1c896e32007-08-29 23:03:30 +0000139 http://bugs.python.org/
Guido van Rossum76be6ed1995-01-02 18:33:54 +0000140
Georg Brandla02607e2010-07-31 11:00:47 +0000141If you're not sure whether you're dealing with a bug or a feature, use the
142mailing list:
Guido van Rossum1c896e32007-08-29 23:03:30 +0000143
Mark Dickinsonb9ebd042009-02-06 16:39:11 +0000144 python-dev@python.org
Guido van Rossum1c896e32007-08-29 23:03:30 +0000145
146To subscribe to the list, use the mailman form:
147
Mark Dickinsonb9ebd042009-02-06 16:39:11 +0000148 http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-dev/
Georg Brandl81299ad2006-02-20 10:24:06 +0000149
Michael W. Hudson71dcc3e2005-02-22 15:33:26 +0000150
Benjamin Peterson1da43e52009-06-26 13:21:52 +0000151Proposals for enhancement
152-------------------------
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000153
Benjamin Peterson1da43e52009-06-26 13:21:52 +0000154If you have a proposal to change Python, you may want to send an email to the
Georg Brandl260a7882011-02-20 10:29:04 +0000155comp.lang.python or python-ideas mailing lists for inital feedback. A Python
156Enhancement Proposal (PEP) may be submitted if your idea gains ground. All
Benjamin Peterson1da43e52009-06-26 13:21:52 +0000157current PEPs, as well as guidelines for submitting a new PEP, are listed at
158http://www.python.org/dev/peps/.
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000159
Guido van Rossum1c896e32007-08-29 23:03:30 +0000160
Benjamin Peterson1da43e52009-06-26 13:21:52 +0000161Release Schedule
162----------------
Guido van Rossum1c896e32007-08-29 23:03:30 +0000163
Benjamin Peterson95d62642010-06-20 15:27:07 +0000164See PEP 392 for release details: http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0392/
Guido van Rossumef0f1292007-08-30 14:51:05 +0000165
166
167Copyright and License Information
168---------------------------------
169
Georg Brandl260a7882011-02-20 10:29:04 +0000170Copyright (c) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
171Python Software Foundation. All rights reserved.
Guido van Rossumef0f1292007-08-30 14:51:05 +0000172
Georg Brandl260a7882011-02-20 10:29:04 +0000173Copyright (c) 2000 BeOpen.com. All rights reserved.
Guido van Rossumef0f1292007-08-30 14:51:05 +0000174
Georg Brandl260a7882011-02-20 10:29:04 +0000175Copyright (c) 1995-2001 Corporation for National Research Initiatives. All
176rights reserved.
Guido van Rossumef0f1292007-08-30 14:51:05 +0000177
Georg Brandl260a7882011-02-20 10:29:04 +0000178Copyright (c) 1991-1995 Stichting Mathematisch Centrum. All rights reserved.
Guido van Rossumef0f1292007-08-30 14:51:05 +0000179
Georg Brandl260a7882011-02-20 10:29:04 +0000180See the file "LICENSE" for information on the history of this software, terms &
181conditions for usage, and a DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES.
Guido van Rossumef0f1292007-08-30 14:51:05 +0000182
Georg Brandl260a7882011-02-20 10:29:04 +0000183This Python distribution contains *no* GNU General Public License (GPL) code, so
184it may be used in proprietary projects. There are interfaces to some GNU code
185but these are entirely optional.
Guido van Rossumef0f1292007-08-30 14:51:05 +0000186
Georg Brandl260a7882011-02-20 10:29:04 +0000187All trademarks referenced herein are property of their respective holders.