> There are very, very few breaking changes within Python 3.
But will structural pattern matching be back-ported, though?
Certainly an incompatibility, if not a breaking change per se.
Re:What’s in Which Python
by kdmccormick on Monday May 23, 2022 @08:04AM
(#31477941)
GP means there are very few backwards-incompatible changes in new releases. There are plenty of forwards-incompatible ones, though.
How is pattern matching a breaking change? If your code doesn't have it how would it break?
But there are lots of companies that release software using Python. To ensure a stable production environment, they upgrade more slowly, or on a schedule that's distinct from the Python release cycle.
Also, companies often don't just let people upgrade things themselves. The IT department schedules a company-wide Python upgrade, for example, testing the effects beforehand. I have several training clients still using 3.7 and 3.8, not because things would break with 3.10, but because they haven't fully vetted the newest version, and they're being super conservative.
I do wonder if companies will be a bit faster to upgrade over the coming years, given that execution speed is expected to improve rather dramatically. Upgrading won't be a matter of some nice-to-have features, but rather of real savings in system usage.