I'm pleased to announce the release of Python 3.12 release candidate 2.

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-3120rc2/

This is the second release candidate of Python 3.12.0

This release, *3.12.0rc2*, is the last release preview for Python 3.12.

There will be *no ABI changes* from this point forward in the 3.12 series.
The intent is for the final release of 3.12.0, scheduled for Monday, 2023-10-02, to be identical to this release candidate. *This is the last
chance to find critical problems in Python 3.12.* <https://discuss.python.org/t/python-3-12-0rc2-final-release-candidate-released/33105#call-to-action-2>Call
to action

We strongly encourage maintainers of third-party Python projects to prepare their projects for 3.12 compatibilities during this phase, and where
necessary publish Python 3.12 wheels on PyPI to be ready for the final
release of 3.12.0. Any binary wheels built against Python 3.12.0rc2 will
work with future versions of Python 3.12. As always, report any issues to the Python bug tracker <https://github.com/python/cpython/issues>.

Please keep in mind that this is a preview release and while it’s as close
to the final release as we can get it, its use is *not* recommended for production environments. <https://discuss.python.org/t/python-3-12-0rc2-final-release-candidate-released/33105#core-developers-time-to-work-on-documentation-now-3>Core
developers: time to work on documentation now

- Are all your changes properly documented?
- Are they mentioned in What’s New
<https://docs.python.org/3.12/whatsnew/3.12.html>?
- Did you notice other changes you know of to have insufficient
documentation?

<https://discuss.python.org/t/python-3-12-0rc2-final-release-candidate-released/33105#major-new-features-of-the-312-series-compared-to-311-4>Major
new features of the 3.12 series, compared to 3.11 <https://discuss.python.org/t/python-3-12-0rc2-final-release-candidate-released/33105#new-features-5>New
features

- More flexible f-string parsing
<https://docs.python.org/3.12/whatsnew/3.12.html#pep-701-syntactic-formalization-of-f-strings>,
allowing many things previously disallowed (PEP 701
<https://peps.python.org/pep-0701/>).
- Support for the buffer protocol
<https://docs.python.org/3.12/whatsnew/3.12.html#pep-688-making-the-buffer-protocol-accessible-in-python>
in Python code (PEP 688 <https://peps.python.org/pep-0688/>).
- A new debugging/profiling API
<https://docs.python.org/3.12/whatsnew/3.12.html#pep-669-low-impact-monitoring-for-cpython>
(PEP 669 <https://peps.python.org/pep-0669/>).
- Support for isolated subinterpreters
<https://docs.python.org/3.12/whatsnew/3.12.html#pep-684-a-per-interpreter-gil>
with separate Global Interpreter Locks (PEP 684
<https://peps.python.org/pep-0684>).
- Even more improved error messages
<https://docs.python.org/3.12/whatsnew/3.12.html#improved-error-messages>.
More exceptions potentially caused by typos now make suggestions to the
user.
- Support for the Linux perf profiler
<https://docs.python.org/3.12/howto/perf_profiling.html> to report
Python function names in traces.
- Many large and small performance improvements
<https://docs.python.org/3.12/whatsnew/3.12.html#optimizations> (like PEP
709 <https://peps.python.org/pep-0709/>), delivering an estimated 5%
overall performance improvementcitation needed.

<https://discuss.python.org/t/python-3-12-0rc2-final-release-candidate-released/33105#type-annotations-6>Type
annotations

- New type annotation syntax
<https://docs.python.org/3.12/whatsnew/3.12.html#pep-695-type-parameter-syntax>
for generic classes (PEP 695 <https://peps.python.org/pep-0695/>).
- New override decorator
<https://docs.python.org/3.12/whatsnew/3.12.html#pep-698-override-decorator-for-static-typing>
for methods (PEP 698 <https://peps.python.org/pep-0698>).

<https://discuss.python.org/t/python-3-12-0rc2-final-release-candidate-released/33105#deprecations-7>
Deprecations

- The deprecated wstr and wstr_length members of the C implementation of
unicode objects were removed, per PEP 623
<https://peps.python.org/pep-0623/>.
- In the unittest module, a number of long deprecated methods and
classes were removed. (They had been deprecated since Python 3.1 or 3.2).
- The deprecated smtpd and distutils modules have been removed (see PEP
594 <https://peps.python.org/pep-0594/> and PEP 632
<https://peps.python.org/pep-0632/>. The setuptools package continues to
provide the distutils module.
- A number of other old, broken and deprecated functions, classes and
methods <https://docs.python.org/3.12/whatsnew/3.12.html#removed> have
been removed.
- Invalid backslash escape sequences in strings now warn with
SyntaxWarning instead of DeprecationWarning, making them more visible.
(They will become syntax errors in the future.)
- The internal representation of integers has changed in preparation for
performance enhancements. (This should not affect most users as it is an
internal detail, but it may cause problems for Cython-generated code.)

(Hey, *fellow core developer,* if a feature you find important is missing
from this list, let Thomas know <thomas@python.org>.)

For more details on the changes to Python 3.12, see What’s new in Python
3.12 <https://docs.python.org/dev/whatsnew/3.12.html>. The next scheduled release of Python 3.12 will be 3.12.0, the *final release*, currently
scheduled for 2023-10-02. <https://discuss.python.org/t/python-3-12-0rc2-final-release-candidate-released/33105#more-resources-8>More
resources

- Online Documentation <https://docs.python.org/3.12/>.
- PEP 693 <https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0693/>, the Python 3.12
Release Schedule.
- Report bugs via GitHub Issues
<https://github.com/python/cpython/issues>.
- Help fund Python and its community
<https://www.python.org/psf/donations/>.

<https://discuss.python.org/t/python-3-12-0rc2-final-release-candidate-released/33105#we-hope-you-enjoy-the-new-releases-9>We
hope you enjoy the new releases!

Thanks to all of the many volunteers who help make Python Development and
these releases possible! Please consider supporting our efforts by
volunteering yourself or through organization contributions to the Python Software Foundation <https://www.python.org/psf-landing/>.

Your release team,
Thomas Wouters
Ned Deily
Steve Dower
Łukasz Langa

--
Thomas Wouters <thomas@python.org>

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