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 practice, after a final minor release is made, the version is incremented to the next minor version, which becomes the “a0” version, e.g. “2.4a0”. 

See also the documentation for sys.version , sys.hexversion , and sys.version_info . 

## 1.1.7 How do I obtain a copy of the Python source? 

The latest Python source distribution is always available from python.org, at https://www.python.org/downloads/. The latest development sources can be obtained at https://github.com/python/cpython/. 

The source distribution is a gzipped tar file containing the complete C source, Sphinx-formatted documentation, Python library modules, example programs, and several useful pieces of freely distributable software. The source will compile and run out of the box on most UNIX platforms. 

Consult the Getting Started section of the Python Developer’s Guide for more information on getting the source code and compiling it. 

## 1.1.8 How do I get documentation on Python? 

The standard documentation for the current stable version of Python is available at https://docs.python.org/3/. PDF, plain text, and downloadable HTML versions are also available at https://docs.python.org/3/download.html. 

The documentation is written in reStructuredText and processed by the Sphinx documentation tool. The reStruc- turedText source for the documentation is part of the Python source distribution. 

## 1.1.9 I’ve never programmed before. Is there a Python tutorial? 

There are numerous tutorials and books available. The standard documentation includes tutorial-index. 

Consult the Beginner’s Guide to find information for beginning Python programmers, including lists of tutorials. 

## 1.1.10 Is there a newsgroup or mailing list devoted to Python? 

There is a newsgroup,$_{comp.lang.python}$ , and a mailing list, python-list. The newsgroup and mailing list are gatewayed into each other – if you can read news it’s unnecessary to subscribe to the mailing list. comp.lang. $_{python}$is high-traffic, receiving hundreds of postings every day, and Usenet readers are often more able to cope with this volume. 

Announcements of new software releases and events can be found in comp.lang.python.announce, a low-traffic mod- erated list that receives about five postings per day. It’s available as the python-announce mailing list. 

More info about other mailing lists and newsgroups can be found at https://www.python.org/community/lists/. 

## 1.1.11 How do I get a beta test version of Python? 

Alpha and beta releases are available from https://www.python.org/downloads/. All releases are announced on the comp.lang.python and comp.lang.python.announce newsgroups and on the Python home page at https://www.python. org/; an RSS feed of news is available. 

You can also access the development version of Python through Git. See The Python Developer’s Guide for details. 

