Latest Supported Python Version

[efe]

The latest supported python version is 3.10. https://github.com/algorand/pyteal/blob/master/setup.py#L30

Python 3.10 is just 11 months old. Python 3.8 will be maintained to 14 Oct 2024 (more than 2 years!) https://endoflife.date/python

Since none of the package dependency have this requirement and the package does not use any new python features as far as I see. Why do we have this?

Most of mature projects are still exists in Python 3.9 or Python 3.8. This makes hard to use pyteal as dependency in these projects.

[michaeldiamant]

@efe Let me know if the response addresses the concern?

I can appreciate that it's an inconvenience from a builder's perspective. As maintainers, the tradeoff is that we leverage recent Python capabilities (e.g. pattern matching, typing additions) in order to reduce chance of error.

I'm not sure if you've seen it: the project README (https://github.com/algorand/pyteal#install) points to ways to manage multiple Python installations locally.

[efe]

I see that you'd like to use latest features of Python. But I think that this is too early for builder perspective. I can make my codebase compatible with Python 3.10. However, It might be impossible for my other dependencies.

I think that packages or frameworks (not end products) should follow Python requirement not that close.

[michaeldiamant]

@efe I can appreciate the perspective you're presenting and it's a primary driver for a slower upgrade path in py-algorand-sdk (https://github.com/algorand/py-algorand-sdk/#supported-python-versions).

In pyteal, we applied a different tradeoff because pyteal's problem domain benefits from recent language developments. We're attempting to balance correctness + flexibility for builders. It's understood that some incompatibilities may exist though we obviously hope it's infrequent.