[RELEASE] Python 3.10.1 is available

[Pablo Galindo Salgado]

I hope you like bug fixes, because we have a whole shipment of them! Python
3.10.1 is the first maintenance release of Python 3.10 as we have packed
more than 330 commits of fixes and general improvements. You can get it
here:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-3101/

# This is the first maintenance release of Python 3.10

Python 3.10.1 is the newest major release of the Python programming
language, and it contains many new features and optimizations.

# Major new features of the 3.10 series, compared to 3.9

Among the new major new features and changes so far:

* [PEP 623](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0623/) -- Deprecate and
prepare for the removal of the wstr member in PyUnicodeObject.
* [PEP 604](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0604/) -- Allow writing
union types as X | Y
* [PEP 612](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0612/) -- Parameter
Specification Variables
* [PEP 626](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0626/) -- Precise line
numbers for debugging and other tools.
* [PEP 618 ](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0618/) -- Add Optional
Length-Checking To zip.
* [bpo-12782](https://bugs.python.org/issue12782): Parenthesized context
managers are now officially allowed.
* [PEP 632 ](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0632/) -- Deprecate
distutils module.
* [PEP 613 ](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0613/) -- Explicit Type
Aliases
* [PEP 634 ](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0634/) -- Structural
Pattern Matching: Specification
* [PEP 635 ](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0635/) -- Structural
Pattern Matching: Motivation and Rationale
* [PEP 636 ](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0636/) -- Structural
Pattern Matching: Tutorial
* [PEP 644 ](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0644/) -- Require OpenSSL
1.1.1 or newer
* [PEP 624 ](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0624/) -- Remove
Py_UNICODE encoder APIs
* [PEP 597 ](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0597/) -- Add optional
EncodingWarning

[bpo-38605](https://bugs.python.org/issue38605): `from __future__ import
annotations` ([PEP 563](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0563/)) used to
be on this list
in previous pre-releases but it has been postponed to Python 3.11 due to
some compatibility concerns. You can read the Steering Council
communication about it [here](
https://mail.python.org/archives/list/python-dev@python.org/thread/CLVXXPQ2T2LQ5MP2Y53VVQFCXYWQJHKZ/)
to learn more.

# More resources

* [Changelog](https://docs.python.org/3.10/whatsnew/changelog.html#changelog
)
* [Online Documentation](https://docs.python.org/3.10/)
* [PEP 619](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0619/), 3.10 Release
Schedule
* Report bugs at [https://bugs.python.org](https://bugs.python.org).
* [Help fund Python and its community](/psf/donations/).

# And now for something completely different

The Meissner effect (or Meissner–Ochsenfeld effect) is the expulsion of a
magnetic field from a superconductor during its transition to the
superconducting state when it is cooled below the critical temperature.
This expulsion will repel a nearby magnet. The German physicists Walther
Meissner and Robert Ochsenfeld discovered this phenomenon in 1933 by
measuring the magnetic field distribution outside superconducting tin and
lead samples. The experiment demonstrated for the first time that
superconductors were more than just perfect conductors and provided a
uniquely defining property of the superconductor state. The ability for the
expulsion effect is determined by the nature of equilibrium formed by the
neutralization within the unit cell of a superconductor.

You can do [ver cool things](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRLvVkkq5GE)
with it!

# We hope you enjoy the new releases!

Thanks to all of the many volunteers who help make Python Development and
these releases possible! Please consider supporting our efforts by
volunteering yourself or through organization contributions to the Python
Software Foundation.

https://www.python.org/psf/

Your friendly release team,
Ned Deily @nad https://discuss.python.org/u/nad
Steve Dower @steve.dower https://discuss.python.org/u/steve.dower
Pablo Galindo Salgado @pablogsal https://discuss.python.org/u/pablogsal