Modern Features

Python · 8 entries

Match/Case Pattern Types

syntax

match value:
    case pattern:
        ...

example

def describe(value):
    match value:
        case int(n) if n > 0:
            return f"positive int: {n}"
        case str(s) if len(s) > 5:
            return f"long string: {s!r}"
        case [first, *rest]:
            return f"list starting with {first}, {len(rest)} more"
        case {"type": "error", "code": code}:
            return f"error code {code}"
        case _:
            return "something else"

print(describe(42))
print(describe([1, 2, 3]))
print(describe({"type": "error", "code": 500}))

output

positive int: 42
list starting with 1, 2 more
error code 500

Note Match/case supports literal, capture, sequence, mapping, class, guard (if), and OR (|) patterns. The _ wildcard matches anything.

match patternsguard clausepattern typesstructural matchingcase guard

f-string Improvements (3.12+)

syntax

f"{'quoted'} {expr!r}"

example

# Nested quotes and backslashes now allowed (3.12+)
users = [{"name": "Alice"}, {"name": "Bob"}]
print(f"First user: {users[0]['name']}")

# Multi-line f-string expressions
result = f"Total: {
    sum(
        item['price']
        for item in [{'price': 10}, {'price': 20}]
    )
}"
print(result)

output

First user: Alice
Total: 30

Note Python 3.12 lifted the restriction on backslashes and same-quote nesting inside f-string expressions. This makes many previously awkward patterns simple.

f-string 3.12f-string backslashf-string nested quotesimproved f-strings

Type Parameter Syntax (3.12+)

syntax

def func[T](arg: T) -> T: ...
class Name[T]: ...

example

# New syntax (3.12+) - no more TypeVar boilerplate
def first_element[T](items: list[T]) -> T:
    return items[0]

print(first_element([10, 20, 30]))
print(first_element(["a", "b"]))

# Generic class
class Pair[A, B]:
    def __init__(self, left: A, right: B):
        self.left = left
        self.right = right

p = Pair("name", 42)
print(p.left, p.right)

output

10
a
name 42

Note The [T] syntax on def/class replaces manual TypeVar declarations. It is scoped to the function or class, unlike module-level TypeVar which could be reused accidentally.

type parametergeneric functiongeneric classPEP 695TypeVar syntax

except* for Exception Groups

syntax

try:
    ...
except* ErrorType as eg:
    ...

example

import asyncio

async def task_a():
    raise ValueError("bad value")

async def task_b():
    raise TypeError("wrong type")

async def main():
    try:
        async with asyncio.TaskGroup() as tg:
            tg.create_task(task_a())
            tg.create_task(task_b())
    except* ValueError as eg:
        print(f"Value errors: {eg.exceptions}")
    except* TypeError as eg:
        print(f"Type errors: {eg.exceptions}")

# asyncio.run(main())

output

Value errors: (ValueError('bad value'),)
Type errors: (TypeError('wrong type'),)

Note except* can match multiple handlers for the same ExceptionGroup. It splits the group so each handler gets only its matching exceptions.

except starexception groupTaskGroupconcurrent errorssplit exceptions

tomllib (Built-in TOML Parser, 3.11+)

syntax

import tomllib
with open('file.toml', 'rb') as f:
    data = tomllib.load(f)

example

import tomllib

toml_string = """
[project]
name = "myapp"
version = "1.0.0"
dependencies = ["requests", "click"]
"""

config = tomllib.loads(toml_string)
print(config["project"]["name"])
print(config["project"]["dependencies"])

output

myapp
['requests', 'click']

Note tomllib is read-only. To write TOML, use the third-party tomli-w package. Open TOML files in binary mode ('rb').

tomltomllibparse tomlconfig filepyproject.toml

asyncio.TaskGroup (3.11+)

syntax

async with asyncio.TaskGroup() as tg:
    tg.create_task(coro())

example

import asyncio

async def fetch(url: str) -> str:
    await asyncio.sleep(0.1)
    return f"Data from {url}"

async def main():
    async with asyncio.TaskGroup() as tg:
        task1 = tg.create_task(fetch("/api/users"))
        task2 = tg.create_task(fetch("/api/orders"))

    print(task1.result())
    print(task2.result())

# asyncio.run(main())

output

Data from /api/users
Data from /api/orders

Note TaskGroup replaces asyncio.gather() with structured concurrency. If any task raises, all other tasks are cancelled and errors are collected into an ExceptionGroup.

TaskGroupasync concurrencystructured concurrencyasyncioparallel tasks

Performance Features (3.13+)

syntax

# JIT compiler, free-threaded mode

example

# Python 3.13 introduced:
# 1. Experimental JIT compiler (--enable-experimental-jit)
# 2. Free-threaded mode (no GIL) via python3.13t
# 3. Improved error messages with color

import sys
print(f"Python {sys.version}")

# Check if GIL is disabled (3.13+)
# sys._is_gil_enabled()  # returns False in free-threaded build

Note Python 3.13's free-threaded build removes the GIL experimentally. Most C extensions need updating to work without the GIL. The JIT is opt-in and best for CPU-bound loops.

Python 3.13JITno GILfree-threadedperformance

warnings.deprecated (3.13+)

syntax

from warnings import deprecated
@deprecated("Use new_func instead")

example

import warnings

# Python 3.13+
# from warnings import deprecated
# @deprecated("Use process_v2() instead")
# def process_v1(data): ...

# For earlier versions, manual approach:
def deprecate(msg):
    def decorator(func):
        def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
            warnings.warn(f"{func.__name__}: {msg}", DeprecationWarning, stacklevel=2)
            return func(*args, **kwargs)
        return wrapper
    return decorator

@deprecate("Use process_v2() instead")
def process_v1(data):
    return data

process_v1("test")

output

# DeprecationWarning: process_v1: Use process_v2() instead

Note The built-in @deprecated decorator (3.13+, PEP 702) is recognized by type checkers, which will warn callers at analysis time, not just at runtime.

deprecateddeprecation warningmark deprecatedPEP 702