Python 2.7 release candidate available

The Python developers have issued he first release candidate of Python 2.7. As the final release approaches, the fixes to the interpreter are relatively minor, with a fix for a possible crash when closing file objects, corrections to a bogus 3.0 compatibility warning, adjustments in complex type handing and stricter UTF8 decoding. For Python embedders, a new C API function PySys_SetArgvEx has been added as part of a fix to potential problems with path handling (CVE-2008-5983). Full details of these and other changes in the release candidate are available in the change log.

Python 2.7 is due to arrive later this month and is planned to be the the last major edition of the Python 2.x series before it goes into "bug fix mode". Python 2.7 is focussed on back porting a number of features which were included in Python 3.1, such as a C based I/O library for higher performance, the addition of an ordered dictionary type and the new syntax for nested with statements. Full details of what's in Python 2.7 are available on the What's New in Python 2.7 page.

Python 2.7 RC1 is available to download from the Python 2.7 pages as source code or binary installers for 32 or 64 bit Windows. The developers do not recommend the use of Python 2.7 RC 1 in production use.

(djwm)