PEP: 596 Title: Python 3.9 Release Schedule Author: Łukasz Langa
<lukasz@python.org> Discussions-To:
https://discuss.python.org/t/pep-596-python-3-9-release-schedule-doubling-the-release-cadence/1828
Status: Active Type: Informational Topic: Release Created: 04-Jun-2019
Python-Version: 3.9

Abstract

This document describes the development and release schedule for Python
3.9. The schedule primarily concerns itself with PEP-sized items.

Release Manager and Crew

-   3.9 Release Manager: Łukasz Langa
-   Windows installers: Steve Dower
-   Mac installers: Ned Deily
-   Documentation: Julien Palard

Release Schedule

3.9.0 schedule

Note: the dates below use a 17-month development period that results in
a 12-month release cadence between feature versions, as defined by PEP
602.

Actual:

-   3.9 development begins: Tuesday, 2019-06-04
-   3.9.0 alpha 1: Tuesday, 2019-11-19
-   3.9.0 alpha 2: Wednesday, 2019-12-18
-   3.9.0 alpha 3: Saturday, 2020-01-25
-   3.9.0 alpha 4: Wednesday, 2020-02-26
-   3.9.0 alpha 5: Monday, 2020-03-23
-   3.9.0 alpha 6: Tuesday, 2020-04-28
-   3.9.0 beta 1: Monday, 2020-05-18 (No new features beyond this
    point.)
-   3.9.0 beta 3: Tuesday, 2020-06-09 (beta 2 was recalled.)
-   3.9.0 beta 4: Friday, 2020-07-03
-   3.9.0 beta 5: Monday, 2020-07-20
-   3.9.0 candidate 1: Tuesday, 2020-08-11
-   3.9.0 candidate 2: Thursday, 2020-09-17
-   3.9.0 final: Monday, 2020-10-05

Bugfix releases

Actual:

-   3.9.1 candidate 1: Tuesday, 2020-11-24
-   3.9.1 final: Monday, 2020-12-07
-   3.9.2 candidate 1: Tuesday, 2021-02-16
-   3.9.2 final: Friday, 2021-02-19
-   3.9.3: Friday, 2021-04-02 (security hotfix; recalled due to
    bpo-43710)
-   3.9.4: Sunday, 2021-04-04 (ABI compatibility hotfix)
-   3.9.5: Monday, 2021-05-03
-   3.9.6: Monday, 2021-06-28
-   3.9.7: Monday, 2021-08-30
-   3.9.8: Friday, 2021-11-05 (recalled due to bpo-45235)
-   3.9.9: Monday, 2021-11-15
-   3.9.10: Friday, 2022-01-14
-   3.9.11: Wednesday, 2022-03-16
-   3.9.12: Wednesday, 2022-03-23
-   3.9.13: Tuesday, 2022-05-17 (final regular bugfix release with
    binary installers)

Source-only security fix releases

Provided irregularly on an "as-needed" basis until October 2025.

-   3.9.14: Tuesday, 2022-09-06
-   3.9.15: Tuesday, 2022-10-11
-   3.9.16: Tuesday, 2022-12-06
-   3.9.17: Tuesday, 2023-06-06
-   3.9.18: Thursday, 2023-08-24
-   3.9.19: Tuesday, 2024-03-19
-   3.9.20: Friday, 2024-09-06

3.9 Lifespan

3.9 will receive bugfix updates approximately every 2 months for
approximately 18 months. Some time after the release of 3.10.0 final,
the ninth and final 3.9 bugfix update will be released. After that, it
is expected that security updates (source only) will be released until 5
years after the release of 3.9 final, so until approximately October
2025.

Features for 3.9

Implemented PEPs for 3.9:

-   PEP 573, Module State Access from C Extension Methods
-   PEP 584, Add Union Operators To dict
-   PEP 585, Type Hinting Generics In Standard Collections
-   PEP 593, Flexible function and variable annotations
-   PEP 614, Relaxing Grammar Restrictions On Decorators
-   PEP 615, Support for the IANA Time Zone Database in the Standard
    Library
-   PEP 616, String methods to remove prefixes and suffixes
-   PEP 617, New PEG parser for CPython

Copyright

This document has been placed in the public domain.