7.5.0: JupyterLab, Spyder and more!

This major release brings several improvements to vpython:

• Compatibility with JupyterLab
• Compatibility with recent versions of Spyder
• Compatibility with IPython 7/ipykernel 5
• Support for Python 3.7
• Dropped support for Python 2.7
• Avoid opening a browser tab or output cell until an object is created by the user to provide a better experience in IDEs that import vpython to provide tab completion and other features.
• The winput widget lets the user enter a string or expression which is accessible from a bound function.
• make_trail now works with compound and clone objects.
• scene.capture(name) sends to the download folder name.png.
• Improvements to points objects whose sphere radii are in pixel values rather than real-world values.

The full list of issues closed in this release is at: https://github.com/BruceSherwood/vpython-jupyter/issues?q=is%3Aissue+milestone%3A7.5.0+is%3Aclosed

7.5.0beta3

This release fixes an error introduced by a recent change to the glowscript libraries

7.5.0beta2

Final test build before release of 7.5.0

7.5.0beta1

No open issues remain for 7.5.0 with this release.

Note that using this with jupyterlab requires two extra install steps beyond what you normally do:

• Install nodejs (in conda this is just conda install nodejs)
• jupyter labextension install vpython

7.5.0alpha4

This pre-release improves functionality in Spyder. For best results, set the Spyder preference for "run" to "Execute in a dedicated console"

7.5.0alpha3

• This release fixes an issue in Python 3.7 caused by out-of-date versions of autobahn on the vpython conda channel.

7.5.0alpha2

This release fixes an issue in the build mechanism on Windows.

7.5.0alpha1

First test release of 7.5.0 -- this pre-release is mostly to test installation.

7.4.7 (Python 2.7, 3.4-3.6)

This release fixes a few issues:

• Restrict ipykernel version. Note for jupyter notebook users: the latest release of ipykernel (version 5, it was released along with ipython 7) breaks the notebook version of vpython. This release of vpython specifies that it requires an older version of ipykernel.
• Ensure that wheels are built for all supported python/os versions.
• Minor improvements/fixes to the demo programs.

7.4.6 (last planned release for Python 2.7 and 3.4)

We are pleased to announce the release of VPython 7.4.6; though the release contains only small bug fixes, this is the last planned release to fully support Python 2.7 and 3.4.

What does this mean in practice? New features will be added only to versions 7.5 and later, which supports Python 3.5 and up. When possible, we will apply critical bug fixes to versions 7.4.x. For the next year we will continue to build VPython 7.4.x wheels and conda packages for new versions of Python. With version 7.5 we will stop building wheels/conda packages for Python 2.7 and 3.4 for VPython 7.5 and later. VPython 7.5 and up may well still work with those versions of Python.

Users of Python 2.7 should be aware that official support for 2.7 from the Python maintainers ends in 2020. We are providing this notice of our intent to stop support for Python 2.7 and 3.4 a year in advance to give educators and other users plenty of time to upgrade.