The New Python 3.13 Is FINALLY Here! | Issue #22


Hi there,

Python 3.13 is officially here, packed with some seriously exciting upgrades! 🐍

The headline feature? Disabling the GIL (yep, you read that right) is a game changer for multithreaded applications. Plus, the interactive interpreter now has full color support 🎨, making debugging and experimentation even more intuitive.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In this week’s video, I’ll walk you through all the major updates, including:

  • A boost to garbage collection for faster memory management ⚡
  • Improvements to package and module handling 📦
  • Some experimental (but very promising) JIT optimizations for performance 🚀

P.S. And yes, Python 3.14 is just around the corner… should we start calling it Pi-thon? 🍰

Enjoy the video and happy coding!

Cheers,

Arjan

# News

It’s Time to Stop Using Python 3.8

With the release of Python 3.13, it’s the perfect time to consider upgrading—especially if you haven’t been keeping up with recent versions.

If you’re still using Python 3.8, you could be missing out on essential improvements in performance, security, and new features. This article dives into the key reasons to move on from 3.8, outlining the risks of staying on an outdated version and the benefits of upgrading. Read the full article here.

Goodhart's Law in Software Engineering

Ever heard of Goodhart’s Law? It’s more relevant to software engineering than you think! 🤔

Goodhart’s Law states, “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.” This insightful article explores how this principle plays out in software engineering, from productivity metrics to code quality—and why focusing too much on the wrong targets can lead to unintended consequences. Curious to learn more? Read the full article here.

# Community

Last month, we welcomed 242 new members to the Discord community! I couldn’t be more thrilled to have you all here. A huge thank you to everyone for your amazing contributions to the discussions so far.

If you’re new, don’t forget to pop into the #😎introduce_yourself channel and say hi! 👋 And if you haven’t joined yet, there’s no better time. Click the link below and be part of our growing community:👉 Join ArjanCodes on Discord


Do you enjoy my content on YouTube and would you like to dive in deeper? Check out my online courses below. They've helped thousands of developers take the next step in their careers.

🚀 The Mindset Online Course Series

The goal of this series is to help junior developers grow their skills to become senior developers faster.

💥 Other Courses

💡 If you’re part of a development team at a company, I offer special packages for companies that give your team the tools to consistently write high-quality code and dramatically increase your team's productivity.

🪄 Learntail

My team and I created an AI quiz generator designed to accelerate your learning, called Learntail. You can try it for free or unlock even more capabilities and features with the monthly subscription. Take a look here.

Unsubscribe | Send by ArjanCodes

Wolvenplein 25, Utrecht, UT 3512 CK

The Friday Loop

Every Friday, you'll get a recap of the most important and exciting Python and coding news. The Friday Loop also keeps everyone posted on new ArjanCodes courses and any limited offers coming up.

Read more from The Friday Loop

Hi there, You’ve probably noticed this by now: LLM prototypes are easy to build. But as soon as you try to turn them into actual production LLM systems… a lot more goes into it. In this week’s video, I walk through how to structure AI agents in Python using design patterns like Chain of Responsibility, Observer, and Strategy. I’ll build a fully functional travel assistant using Pydantic AI and explore how to make your agent pipelines more maintainable, testable, and modular. Hope you enjoy...

Hi there, I have to admit, I often forget how powerful the Python standard library is. Whenever I'm working on some project, I have to remind myself to consider whether something I need is already there, ready for me to use. So, in this week’s video, I’m looking at 10 of the most useful and underrated modules in Python’s standard library, including pathlib, heapq, graphlib, and more. These tools can help you write cleaner, faster, and more maintainable code without adding a single dependency....

Hi there, If you’ve been experimenting with trying to integrate AI into your code, you’ve probably run into the same problem I have: unstructured, unpredictable output. And the other way around: how do you let AI agents interact with your own code? That’s where Pydantic AI comes in. In this week's video, I show how to use Pydantic AI to embed an LLM agent directly into your Python app: with structured input, validated output, and access to real business logic. What I love about this approach...