Python 3.15 goes global with UTF-8 support

After a week’s delay, the new version of Python, v3.15, has been released. With it comes a proper profiler, an experimental just-in-time compiler, and a tightening of dictionary structures. It also offers a time-saving Lazy Import option for programs to not load modules until needed, the implementation of which ironically halted this release until a few last-minute regressions were sorted. But of all these new delicacies spread before the Pythonistas, the data wranglers of the bunch may most appreciate default UTF-8 support across all platforms. And when we say “all platforms,” we’re really just throwing shade at Windows (as usual). Python has defaulted to macOS and Linux Python environments for some time now. It’s a small but important update. About half of all Python developers use the language for processing and analyzing data, and about 58 percent of Python users build on Windows, according to various Python Software Foundation surveys. …