Python 2.5 release roundup
After a couple beta and release candidates, Python 2.5 (FINAL) was released today.
Quoth Anthony Baxter:
This is a *production* release of Python 2.5. Yes, that’s right, it’s finally here.
Python 2.5 is probably the most significant new release of Python since 2.2, way back in the dark ages of 2001. There’s been a wide variety of changes and additions, both user-visible and underneath the hood. In addition, we’ve switched to SVN for development and now use Buildbot to do continuous testing of the Python codebase.
There’s a ton of new stuff in 2.5, but I’m personally happy to see SQLite3 included. Some might say that packing a full RDBMS in with a language is bloat, but I think it’s the natual progression of the “batteries included” philosophy that I like about Python. And SQLite is a really top notch module, so I think it’s a great addition. Other highlights include the addition of ElementTree and wsgiref.
Here’s a quick roundup of reactions from around the web…
Rui Carmo hopes Python 2.5 will make its way into Leopard.
Elliot Murphy seems happy to see the new ‘with’ statement and (sort of) compares it to Ruby’s block methods or closures.
Mind Booster Noori hasn’t been doing too much Python coding lately but says , “you have to love this new release.”
Eric Smartt points out that Komodo 4.0 a5 was also released this week.
Toes to the Edge points out that a printable version of the Python 2.5 docs is available.
Fabio Zadrozny says pydev’s support for Python 2.5 should be finished now.
Ian Gowan is hoping they add it to Portage soon. (Ditto -ed.)
Cheap Therapy is happy to have the ‘with’ statement back.
Micah Dubinko (remembering what day it is) simply says “Shiver me timbers! Python 2.5 be here!” Heh.
Congrats to the Python dev team. Nice work!