Trying the Python 3.8 beta with Jupyter Notebook¶

Trying out a pre-release will help you become familiar with new features to determine if they would be good to use in your projects.

Download the installer¶

Navigate to the Python 3.8.0b4 release page. Scroll down to the Files section:

To install on macOS, select the link macOS 64-bit installer and download the linked .dmg installer. Although this is a pre-release version of 3.8.0, the installer will prompt you for responses just as it does for released versions such as 3.7.4.

Check the installation¶

To check your installation, enter in a terminal:

python3.8 --version  # should display Python 3.8.0b4

To use the REPL¶

To use the beta REPL, enter in a terminal:

python3.8

The REPL will launch with the following output:

Python 3.8.0b4 (v3.8.0b4:d93605de72, Aug 29 2019, 21:47:47)
[Clang 6.0 (clang-600.0.57)] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>

Exit the REPL using Cntl+D or exit().

Install Jupyter notebook with Python 3.8.0b4¶

Create and activate a virtual environment¶

First, create the virtual environment in a Terminal:

python3.8 -m venv testenv

where testenv is the name of the virtual environment.

Activate the virtual environment:

source testenv/bin/activate

You should now see (testenv) above your command-line prompt.

Install the Jupyter notebook¶

Install jupyter using pip:

pip install jupyter

Try it¶

Enter:

jupyter notebook

The Jupyter notebook interface should launch. Select a new Python3 notebook.

You can now begin exploring the new features in Python 3.8. This example shows f-strings support for self-documenting expressions and debugging.