Release date: Oct. 11, 2022

This is the seventh maintenance release of Python 3.10

Python 3.10.8 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 -- Deprecate and prepare for the removal of the wstr member in PyUnicodeObject.
• PEP 604 -- Allow writing union types as X | Y
• PEP 612 -- Parameter Specification Variables
• PEP 626 -- Precise line numbers for debugging and other tools.
• PEP 618 -- Add Optional Length-Checking To zip.
• bpo-12782: Parenthesized context managers are now officially allowed.
• PEP 632 -- Deprecate distutils module.
• PEP 613 -- Explicit Type Aliases
• PEP 634 -- Structural Pattern Matching: Specification
• PEP 635 -- Structural Pattern Matching: Motivation and Rationale
• PEP 636 -- Structural Pattern Matching: Tutorial
• PEP 644 -- Require OpenSSL 1.1.1 or newer
• PEP 624 -- Remove Py_UNICODE encoder APIs
• PEP 597 -- Add optional EncodingWarning

bpo-38605: from __future__ import annotations (PEP 563) 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 to learn more.

More resources

• Changelog
• Online Documentation
• PEP 619, 3.10 Release Schedule
• Report bugs at https://bugs.python.org.
• Help fund Python and its community.

And now for something completely different

Granular convection is a phenomenon where granular material subjected to shaking or vibration will exhibit circulation patterns similar to types of fluid convection. It is sometimes described as the Brazil nut effect when the largest particles end up on the surface of a granular material containing a mixture of variously sized objects; this derives from the example of a typical container of mixed nuts, where the largest will be Brazil nuts. The phenomenon is also known as the muesli effect since it is seen in packets of breakfast cereal containing particles of different sizes but similar densities, such as muesli mix. Under experimental conditions, granular convection of variously sized particles has been observed forming convection cells similar to fluid motion.

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