wxPython 4.0.0a1

[Robin Dunn]

Announcing wxPython 4.0.0a1
---------------------------

https://pypi.python.org/pypi/wxPython/4.0.0a1

I'm pleased to announce that wxPython's Project Phoenix has made it's public
debut as wxPython 4.0.0a1, available from PyPI. Don't let the fact that
it is
marked as an "alpha" release scare you away. It is an alpha simply because
this is the **first** in several ways:

  * It's the first real release of Phoenix, which is built on a different
    foundation than Classic wxPython was.

  * It's the first wxPython release intended to be fully available from
PyPI and
    buildable/installable by pip on all of the supported platforms.

  * It's the first release for Python3 (binaries for 3.5 and 3.6 are
provided,
    and building for 3.4 is still possible as well). In addition, Python 2.7
    is also supported from the same codebase, with binaries available.

  * The wheel files are fully self-contained and relocatable on the
supported
    platforms, so they are installable in virtual environments without
needing
    to be able to find specific versions of the wxWidgets shared libraries
    (or others) at fixed locations elsewhere in the file-system.

  * And as with most alphas, there are still a few things that are not
    finished or polished yet.

But even with all that, many people have been using the pre-release
snapshots
of Phoenix for quite a while now, and it has been relatively stable and
solid
for them.



What is wxPython?
-----------------

wxPython is a cross-platform GUI toolkit for the Python programming
language.
It allows Python programmers to create programs with a robust, highly
functional graphical user interface, simply and easily. It is
implemented as a
set of Python extension modules that wrap the GUI components of the popular
wxWidgets cross platform library, which is written in C++. Supported
platforms
are Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and macOS, and Linux or other unix-like
systems with GTK2 or GTK3 libraries. In most cases the native widgets
are used
on each platform to provide a 100% native look and feel for the application.


What is wxPython Phoenix?
-------------------------

wxPython's Project Phoenix is a new from-the-ground-up implementation of
wxPython, created with the intent of making wxPython “better, stronger,
faster
than he was before.” In other words, this new implementation is focused on
improving speed, maintainability and extensibility of wxPython, as well as
removing most of the cruft that had accumulated over the long life of
Classic
wxPython.

The project has been in development off and on, mostly behind the
scenes, for
many years. For the past few years automated snapshot builds have been
available for those adventurous enough to try it, and many people eventually
started using the snapshots in their projects, even for production releases.
While there are still some things on the periphery that need to be
completed,
the core of the new wxPython extension modules which wrap the wxWidgets code
has been stable for a long time now.

Due to some things being cleaned up, reorganized, simplified and dehackified
wxPython Phoenix is not completely backwards compatible with wxPython
Classic.
This is intended. In general, however, the API differences tend to be minor
and some applications can use Phoenix with slight, or even no modifications.
In some other cases the correct way to do things was also available in
Classic
and it's only the wrong way that has been removed from Phoenix.  For more
information there is a Migration Guide document available at:
https://wxpython.org/Phoenix/docs/html/MigrationGuide.html

The new wxPython API reference documentation, including all Python-specific
additions and customizations, and docs for the wx.lib package, is
located at:
https://wxpython.org/Phoenix/docs/html/main.html

-- 
Robin Dunn
Software Craftsman
http://wxPython.org