Time flies, and with it come new versions of Python and older ones reach the end of their lifespan. Let us use this opportunity to check if we use a Python version that is still supported.
This post is part of my journey to learn Python. You find the code for this post in my PythonFriday repository on GitHub.
What Python version do I use?
We can answer this question with the –version parameter that we can use with the python executable:
|
1 |
python --version |
Python 3.11.3
What versions of Python are still supported?
We can check the maintenance state of each Python version at devguide.python.org/versions. For my 3.11.x version of Python, I am in the green colour that gets bugfixes:
For those who prefer a table in which they can clearly see the dates for the end of life, they can scroll a bit down the page to see the supported versions:
If you use Python 3.8, 3.9 or 3.10, you are still on a supported version of Python, but those three versions will only get security fixes.
Versions 3.11 and 3.12 will get bugfixes and security fixes, while the new features will only be part of the upcoming version 3.13 that is scheduled for October 2024.
Conclusion
New Python versions are usually released in October and get maintenance support for 5 years. This release frequency should allow everyone to keep their Python version up to date.