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    This is Python version 3.1 alpha 0
    ==================================
    
    For notes specific to this release, see RELNOTES in this directory.
    
    Copyright (c) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
    
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    Python Software Foundation.
    All rights reserved.
    
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    Python 3.x is a new version of the language, which is incompatible with the
    2.x line of releases.  The language is mostly the same, but many details,
    especially how built-in objects like dictionaries and strings work, have
    changed considerably, and a lot of deprecated features have finally been
    removed.
    
    This is an ongoing project; the cleanup isn't expected to be complete
    
    until some time in 2008.  In particular there are plans to reorganize
    the standard library namespace.
    
    Release Schedule
    ----------------
    
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    See PEP XXX for release details: http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-XXX/
    
    Guido van Rossum's avatar
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    Documentation
    -------------
    
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    Documentation for Python 3.1 is online, updated twice a day:
    
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        http://docs.python.org/dev/3.1/
    
    All documentation is also available online at the Python web site
    
    (http://docs.python.org/, see below).  It is available online for
    occasional reference, or can be downloaded in many formats for faster
    access.  The documentation is downloadable in HTML, PostScript, PDF,
    LaTeX (through 2.5), and reStructuredText (2.6+) formats; the LaTeX and
    reStructuredText versions are primarily for documentation authors,
    translators, and people with special formatting requirements.
    
    This is a work in progress; please help improve it!
    
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    The design documents for Python 3 are also online.  While the reference
    documentation is being updated, the PEPs are often the best source of
    information about new features.  Start by reading PEP 3000:
    
        http://python.org/dev/peps/pep-3000/
    
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    For an overview of what's new in Python 3, see Guido van Rossum's blog at
    artima.com:
    
        http://www.artima.com/weblogs/index.jsp?blogger=guido
    
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    We try to eventually have a comprehensive overview of the changes in
    
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    the "What's New in Python 3.1" document, found at
    
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        http://docs.python.org/dev/3.1/whatsnew/3.1
    
    Georg Brandl's avatar
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    Please help write it!
    
    For a more detailed change log, read Misc/NEWS (though this file, too,
    is incomplete, and also doesn't list anything merged in from the 2.6
    release under development).
    
    
    If you want to install multiple versions of Python see the section below
    entitled "Installing multiple versions".
    
    
    
    -------------------------
    
    If you have a proposal to change Python, you may want to send an email to the
    comp.lang.python or python-ideas mailing lists for inital feedback. A Python
    Enhancement Proposal (PEP) may be submitted if your idea gains ground. All
    current PEPs, as well as guidelines for submitting a new PEP, are listed at
    http://www.python.org/dev/peps/.
    
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    Converting From Python 2.x to 3.x
    
    ---------------------------------
    
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    Python starting with 2.6 will contain features to help locating code that
    needs to be changed, such as optional warnings when deprecated features are
    used, and backported versions of certain key Python 3.x features.
    
    Christian Heimes's avatar
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    Installing multiple versions
    ----------------------------
    
    On Unix and Mac systems if you intend to install multiple versions of Python
    using the same installation prefix (--prefix argument to the configure
    script) you must take care that your primary python executable is not
    overwritten by the installation of a different versio.  All files and
    directories installed using "make altinstall" contain the major and minor
    version and can thus live side-by-side.  "make install" also creates
    ${prefix}/bin/python which refers to ${prefix}/bin/pythonX.Y.  If you intend
    to install multiple versions using the same prefix you must decide which
    version (if any) is your "primary" version.  Install that version using
    "make install".  Install all other versions using "make altinstall".
    
    For example, if you want to install Python 2.5, 2.6 and 3.0 with 2.6 being
    the primary version, you would execute "make install" in your 2.6 build
    directory and "make altinstall" in the others.
    
    
    Configuration options and variables
    -----------------------------------
    
    
    A source-to-source translation tool, "2to3", can take care of the
    mundane task of converting large amounts of source code.  It is not a
    complete solution but is complemented by the deprecation warnings in
    2.6.  This tool is currently available via the Subversion sandbox:
    
        http://svn.python.org/view/sandbox/trunk/2to3/
    
    Issue Tracker and Mailing List
    ------------------------------
    
    We're soliciting bug reports about all aspects of the language.  Fixes
    are also welcome, preferable in unified diff format.  Please use the
    issue tracker:
    
        http://bugs.python.org/
    
    If you're not sure whether you're dealing with a bug or a feature, use
    the mailing list:
    
    To subscribe to the list, use the mailman form:
    
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        http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-dev/
    
    Build Instructions
    ------------------
    
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    On Unix, Linux, BSD, OSX, and Cygwin:
    
        ./configure
        make
        make test
        sudo make install    # or "make altinstall"
    
    You can pass many options to the configure script; run "./configure
    --help" to find out more.  On OSX and Cygwin, the executable is called
    python.exe; elsewhere it's just python.
    
    On Mac OS X, if you have configured Python with --enable-framework,
    you should use "make frameworkinstall" to do the installation.  Note
    that this installs the Python executable in a place that is not
    normally on your PATH, you may want to set up a symlink in
    /usr/local/bin.
    
    On Windows, see PCbuild/readme.txt.
    
    
    If you wish, you can create a subdirectory and invoke configure from
    there.  For example:
    
        mkdir debug
        cd debug
        ../configure --with-pydebug
        make
        make test
    
    (This will fail if you *also* built at the top-level directory.  You
    should do a "make clean" at the toplevel first.)
    
    
    
    Copyright and License Information
    ---------------------------------
    
    
    Copyright (c) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
    
    Python Software Foundation.
    All rights reserved.
    
    Copyright (c) 2000 BeOpen.com.
    All rights reserved.
    
    Copyright (c) 1995-2001 Corporation for National Research Initiatives.
    All rights reserved.
    
    Copyright (c) 1991-1995 Stichting Mathematisch Centrum.
    All rights reserved.
    
    See the file "LICENSE" for information on the history of this
    software, terms & conditions for usage, and a DISCLAIMER OF ALL
    WARRANTIES.
    
    This Python distribution contains *no* GNU General Public License
    (GPL) code, so it may be used in proprietary projects.  There are
    interfaces to some GNU code but these are entirely optional.
    
    All trademarks referenced herein are property of their respective
    holders.