diff --git a/Doc/faq/general.rst b/Doc/faq/general.rst index 81842fce430..489bca76432 100644 --- a/Doc/faq/general.rst +++ b/Doc/faq/general.rst @@ -125,11 +125,15 @@ find packages of interest to you. How does the Python version numbering scheme work? -------------------------------------------------- -Python versions are numbered A.B.C or A.B. A is the major version number -- it -is only incremented for really major changes in the language. B is the minor -version number, incremented for less earth-shattering changes. C is the -micro-level -- it is incremented for each bugfix release. See :pep:`6` for more -information about bugfix releases. +Python versions are numbered "A.B.C" or "A.B": + +* *A* is the major version number -- it is only incremented for really major + changes in the language. +* *B* is the minor version number -- it is incremented for less earth-shattering + changes. +* *C* is the micro version number -- it is incremented for each bugfix release. + +See :pep:`6` for more information about bugfix releases. Not all releases are bugfix releases. In the run-up to a new major release, a series of development releases are made, denoted as alpha, beta, or release @@ -139,12 +143,14 @@ Betas are more stable, preserving existing interfaces but possibly adding new modules, and release candidates are frozen, making no changes except as needed to fix critical bugs. -Alpha, beta and release candidate versions have an additional suffix. The -suffix for an alpha version is "aN" for some small number N, the suffix for a -beta version is "bN" for some small number N, and the suffix for a release -candidate version is "rcN" for some small number N. In other words, all versions -labeled 2.0aN precede the versions labeled 2.0bN, which precede versions labeled -2.0rcN, and *those* precede 2.0. +Alpha, beta and release candidate versions have an additional suffix: + +* The suffix for an alpha version is "aN" for some small number *N*. +* The suffix for a beta version is "bN" for some small number *N*. +* The suffix for a release candidate version is "rcN" for some small number *N*. + +In other words, all versions labeled *2.0aN* precede the versions labeled +*2.0bN*, which precede versions labeled *2.0rcN*, and *those* precede 2.0. You may also find version numbers with a "+" suffix, e.g. "2.2+". These are unreleased versions, built directly from the CPython development repository. In @@ -429,7 +435,7 @@ With the interpreter, documentation is never far from the student as they are programming. There are also good IDEs for Python. IDLE is a cross-platform IDE for Python -that is written in Python using Tkinter. PythonWin is a Windows-specific IDE. +that is written in Python using Tkinter. Emacs users will be happy to know that there is a very good Python mode for Emacs. All of these programming environments provide syntax highlighting, auto-indenting, and access to the interactive interpreter while coding. Consult