[Biopython] When to drop Python 3.6 support?

[Peter Cock]

We'll do that: https://github.com/biopython/biopython/pull/3426

Biopython 1.79 is expected to be our final release supporting Python 3.6

Peter

On Tue, Nov 10, 2020 at 6:01 PM Peter Cock <p.j.a.cock at googlemail.com> wrote:
>
> Good - like João I use conda on our Linux cluster, and a Mac desktop.
> It has freed me from worrying about the operating system provided
> Python (which can often be quite old).
>
> I'd suggest we announce that Biopython 1.79 is intended to be the final
> release to support Python 3.6, and include a warning about this in the
> setup.py when used on Python 3.6 (as we have done in the past).
>
> Peter
>
> On Tue, Nov 10, 2020 at 4:58 PM Ivan Gregoretti <ivangreg at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Hello Peter.
> >
> > Just to agree with you. I do not know of any major linux distribution
> > shipping with 3.6 or older.
> >
> > People seem to be developing for Python 3.7 and above these days.
> >
> > My vote goes to dropping 3.6 and devoting resources to 3.7 and above.
> >
> > Ivan
> >
> >
> >
> > On Tue, Nov 10, 2020 at 4:57 AM Peter Cock <p.j.a.cock at googlemail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hello all,
> > >
> > > We'll probably want to make the Biopython 1.79 release in the next
> > > month or so, which would be before Python 3.9 is officially released.
> > > If it all seems to work, we could add a Python 3.9 wheel for Biopython 1.79
> > > later, otherwise we'd aim to officially support it in our subsequent release.
> > >
> > > That would leave us targeting Python 3.6, 3.7, 3.8 and 3.9, which starts
> > > to be a burden for continuous integration testing.
> > >
> > > I note that Python 3.6 has now been dropped from NumPy 1.20. It would be
> > > good to start preparing to drop Python 3.6 support in Biopython. According
> > > to https://www.python.org/downloads/ and also PEP494, Python will end
> > > support for Python 3.6 in December 2021, about a year away.
> > >
> > > Are there any major platforms (e.g. popular Linux distributions) where the
> > > default is Python 3.6 where our users might be inconvenienced? Personally
> > > I switched to using conda (with conda-forge and bioconda) a while back, and
> > > their default Python is quite up to date - so I don't usually worry about the
> > > system provided Python anymore.
> > >
> > > I note that PyPy currently implements Python 3.6.9, but they already have
> > > Python 3.7 support in beta:
> > > https://foss.heptapod.net/pypy/pypy/-/wikis/py3.7%20status
> > >
> > > There are a few new features in Python 3.7 which may be of interest,
> > > https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0537/#features-for-3-7 - perhaps
> > > the new Data Classes in particular? Nothing there currently strikes me
> > > as a strong reason to drop Python 3.6 early.
> > >
> > > Any thoughts, comments, or use cases for Python 3.6?
> > >
> > > Peter
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