Python features by version

From time to time I need to poke someone to use a new version of Python but I couldn't find the list of main features one gets by this. There is https://docs.python.org/3/whatsnew/index.html but that is too much info. So here is my concise list. Also, there is an EOL (End of Life) date for every version in the brackets. More visual EOF site at https://devguide.python.org/versions/

Python 3.13 (2029-10)

• New colorful interactive REPL
• Experimental GIL removal
• Experimental JIT compiler
• Support for mobile platforms like iOS and Android soon

Python 3.12 (2028-10)

• New Type Parameter Syntax for generics in functions def max[T](args: Iterable[T]) -> T: classes class list[T]: and types type Point[T] = tuple[T, T]
• Nested f-strings f"{f"{f"{f"{f"{f"{42-36}"}"}"}"}"}"
• A per-interpreter GIL

Python 3.11 (2027-10)

• between 10-60% speedup
• Fine-grained error locations in tracebacks
• Enhanced error locations in tracebacks
• Support for parsing TOML files in the Standard Library

Python 3.10 (2026-10)

• Pattern matching

    match point:
        case Point(x=0, y=0):
            print("Origin is the point's location.")
        case Point(x=0, y=y):
            print(f"Y={y} and the point is on the y-axis.")
        case Point(x=x, y=0):
            print(f"X={x} and the point is on the x-axis.")
        case Point():
            print("The point is located somewhere else on the plane.")
        case _:
            print("Not a point")

• Type alias StrCache: typing.TypeAlias = "Cache[str]"
• Union type operator def square(number: int | float) -> int | float:
• Better error messages with precise line numbers for debugging and other tools
• Parenthesized context managers

with (
    CtxManager1(),
    CtxManager2()
):
    ...

Python 3.9 (2025-10)

• Dictionary merge assert {"a": 1} | {"b": 2} == {"a": 1, "b": 2}
• New string methodsstr.removeprefix(prefix) and str.removesuffix(suffix)
• Builtin Generics list[dict[str, int]] vs. typing.List[typing.Dict[str, int]]
• New PEG parser
• New module zoneinfo for timezones information

Python 3.8 (2024-10)

• The walrus operator if (n := len(a)) > 10: print(f"List is too long ({n} elements, expected <= 10)")
• Positional-only parameters len(obj, /) which prevents awkward calls such as len(obj="Hello")
• Self documenting f-strings f"{user=} {member_since=}" # "user='eric_idle' member_since=datetime.date(1975, 7, 31)"
• cached_property is finally in the standard library

Python 3.7 († 2023-06)

• contextvars
• dataclasses

@dataclass
class Point:
    x: float
    y: float
    z: float = 0.0

p = Point(1.5, 2.5)
print(p)   # produces "Point(x=1.5, y=2.5, z=0.0)"

• Built-in breakpoint function

Python 3.6 († 2021-12)

• f-strings f'Hello {name}'
• undescores in number literals 10_000_000
• variable annotations variable: Type = 29
• asynchronous generators and comprehensions

async def ticker(delay, to):
    """Yield numbers from 0 to *to* every *delay* seconds."""
    for i in range(to):
        yield i
        await asyncio.sleep(delay)

result = [i async for i in aiter() if i % 2]
result = [await fun() for fun in funcs if await condition()]

• New module "secrets"
• Type dict is more compact and ordered by default

Python 3.5 († 2020-09-30)

• async/await syntax
• matrix multiplication operator M @ N
• Additional Unpacking Generalizations print(*[1], *[2], 3, *[4, 5]) and function(**{'a': 1, 'c': 3}, **{'b': 2, 'd': 4})
• New enum for HTTP statuses http.HTTPStatus.OK
• Type hints typing.Dict[str, typing.Any]

Python 3.4 († 2019-03-18)

• built-in pip
• New module asyncio
• Support for enums
• New module pathlib
• New module statistics

Python 3.3 († 2017-09-29)

• Built-in virtualenv
• Generator delegation yield from another_generator()
• Exception context suppresion raise Exception("Ooops") from None
• Explicit unicode literals are back to make migration from Python 2 easier u"I am unicode in both Python 2 and 3"
• New module unittest.mock
• New module ipaddress

Python 3.2 († 2016-02-20)

• ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Python 3.1 († 2012-04-09)

• OrderedDict
• with handles multiple context managers in single statement

Python 3.0 († 2009-06-27)

• Big pile of incompatibility