Release date: Jan. 14, 2022

This is an early developer preview of Python 3.11

Major new features of the 3.11 series, compared to 3.10

Python 3.11 is still in development. This release, 3.11.0a4 is the fourth of seven planned alpha releases.

Alpha releases are intended to make it easier to test the current state of new features and bug fixes and to test the release process.

During the alpha phase, features may be added up until the start of the beta phase (2022-05-06) and, if necessary, may be modified or deleted up until the release candidate phase (2022-08-01). Please keep in mind that this is a preview release and its use is not recommended for production environments.

Many new features for Python 3.11 are still being planned and written. Among the new major new features and changes so far:

• PEP 657 -- Include Fine-Grained Error Locations in Tracebacks
• PEP 654 -- Exception Groups and except*
• The Faster Cpython Project is already yielding some exciting results: this version of CPython 3.11 is ~ 19% faster on the geometric mean of the PyPerformance benchmarks, compared to 3.10.0.
• (Hey, fellow core developer, if a feature you find important is missing from this list, let Pablo know.)

The next pre-release of Python 3.11 will be 3.11.0a5, currently scheduled for Wednesday, 2022-02-02.

More resources

• Online Documentation
• PEP 664, 3.11 Release Schedule
• Report bugs at https://bugs.python.org.
• Help fund Python and its community.

And now for something completely different

The Magnus effect is an observable phenomenon that is commonly associated with a spinning object moving through a fluid. The path of the spinning object is deflected in a manner that is not present when the object is not spinning. The deflection can be explained by the difference in pressure of the fluid on opposite sides of the spinning object and this effect is dependent on the speed of rotation.

The most readily observable case of the Magnus effect is when a spinning sphere (or cylinder) curves away from the arc it would follow if it were not spinning. It is often used by association football and volleyball players, baseball pitchers, and cricket bowlers.