Ahmed Bouchefra: Python 3.13 in 2025 Breakthroughs: No-GIL, JIT, and iOS Support Explained

Python 3.13 was released on October 7, 2024, with its latest maintenance update, 3.13.2, released on February 6, 2025. This version brings significant changes, including performance boosts of 5-15% compared to Python 3.12, with an experimental JIT compiler showing up to 30% speedups for computation-heavy tasks. The experimental no-GIL mode allows for better parallelism, and iOS support has been added, opening doors for Python mobile development. Improved typing, pattern matching, and a cleaner codebase are also notable features. The community is excited about the possibilities of iOS development and the no-GIL experiment, although the latter still has compatibility issues with some C extensions. The latest maintenance release, 3.13.2, focuses on stability, with around 250 bug fixes, including better IPv6 handling and an updated libexpat. The performance improvements are noticeable, with a 5-15% improvement over Python 3.12 for common operations. The memory footprint has also been reduced by roughly 7% compared to 3.12. Python 3.13 shines in data science and machine learning, web development, and mobile development, although the free-threading experiment still has compatibility issues with some C extensions. The community is discussing the potential of Python 3.13, with many excited about the iOS possibilities and the no-GIL experiment. The Python Language Summit scheduled for April 2025 will likely focus on the future of the no-GIL implementation. Overall, Python 3.13 represents a stepping stone toward a faster Python that maintains its developer-friendly nature.