Python 2.7.2 and 3.1.4 arrive

As expected, Python 2.7.2 and Python 3.1.4 have been released by the Python developers. Both releases contain the security fixes to stop redirection errors that were included in May's Python 2.5.6 and last week's Python 2.6.7 "security fixes only" releases, but these are general maintenance releases and therefore contain many more fixes and corrections – although only Python 2.7.2 is a current production version.

For example, the 2.7.2 release sees an increase in the secondary thread stack sizes on Mac OS X and FreeBSD to reduce the chances of crashing, the ability to handle post-2038 dates on Windows with NTFS file systems, a fix for a post-fork crashing bug on RHEL5, and around 160 other fixes detailed in the 2.7.2 release notes. The 3.1.4 release notes detail a similar stack and date fix, along with around 140 other fixes.

Python 2.7 is the last major version of the Python 2.x series which is, over time, being replaced by the backwards incompatible Python 3.x series. Python 2.7 was released in July 2010 and brought many Python 3.x features back into the older branch of the language. Python 2.7.2 is the current production version of the Python 2.x series.

Python 3.1 was released in June 2009, and has been since been superseded as a current production version by February 2011's release of Python 3.2; the release of Python 3.2.1 is expected soon as a release candidate for it was made available on May 17th.

As a current production version, Python 2.7.2 is available to download from the Python.org download page, while Python 3.1.4 is available to download from its announcement page. Both are available as source, Mac OS X installers and Windows 32 and 64 bit installers and are licensed under the Python software licence.

(djwm)