3.12.0 schedule

Note: the dates below use a 17-month development period that results in a 12-month release cadence between feature versions, as defined by PEP 602.

Actual:

• 3.12 development begins: Sunday, 2022-05-08
• 3.12.0 alpha 1: Monday, 2022-10-24
• 3.12.0 alpha 2: Monday, 2022-11-14
• 3.12.0 alpha 3: Tuesday, 2022-12-06
• 3.12.0 alpha 4: Tuesday, 2023-01-10
• 3.12.0 alpha 5: Tuesday, 2023-02-07
• 3.12.0 alpha 6: Tuesday, 2023-03-07
• 3.12.0 alpha 7: Tuesday, 2023-04-04
• 3.12.0 beta 1: Monday, 2023-05-22 (No new features beyond this point.)
• 3.12.0 beta 2: Tuesday, 2023-06-06
• 3.12.0 beta 3: Monday, 2023-06-19
• 3.12.0 beta 4: Tuesday, 2023-07-11
• 3.12.0 candidate 1: Sunday, 2023-08-06
• 3.12.0 candidate 2: Wednesday, 2023-09-06
• 3.12.0 candidate 3: Tuesday, 2023-09-19
• 3.12.0 final: Monday, 2023-10-02

Bugfix releases

Actual:

• 3.12.1: Thursday, 2023-12-07
• 3.12.2: Tuesday, 2024-02-06
• 3.12.3: Tuesday, 2024-04-09
• 3.12.4: Thursday, 2024-06-06
• 3.12.5: Tuesday, 2024-08-06
• 3.12.6: Friday, 2024-09-06
• 3.12.7: Tuesday, 2024-10-01

Expected:

• 3.12.8: Tuesday, 2024-12-03
• 3.12.9: Tuesday, 2025-02-04
• 3.12.10: Tuesday, 2025-04-08

Source-only security fix releases

Provided irregularly on an as-needed basis until October 2028.

3.12 Lifespan

3.12 will receive bugfix updates approximately every 2 months for approximately 18 months. Some time after the release of 3.13.0 final, the ninth and final 3.12 bugfix update will be released. After that, it is expected that security updates (source only) will be released until 5 years after the release of 3.12.0 final, so until approximately October 2028.