CPython exposes its version number in the following macros. Note that these correspond to the version code is built with. See :c:var:`Py_Version` for the version used at run time.
See :ref:`stable` for a discussion of API and ABI stability across versions.
.. c:macro:: PY_MAJOR_VERSION
The ``3`` in ``3.4.1a2``.
.. c:macro:: PY_MINOR_VERSION
The ``4`` in ``3.4.1a2``.
.. c:macro:: PY_MICRO_VERSION
The ``1`` in ``3.4.1a2``.
.. c:macro:: PY_RELEASE_LEVEL
The ``a`` in ``3.4.1a2``.
This can be ``0xA`` for alpha, ``0xB`` for beta, ``0xC`` for release
candidate or ``0xF`` for final.
.. c:macro:: PY_RELEASE_SERIAL
The ``2`` in ``3.4.1a2``. Zero for final releases.
.. c:macro:: PY_VERSION_HEX
The Python version number encoded in a single integer.
See :c:func:`Py_PACK_FULL_VERSION` for the encoding details.
Use this for numeric comparisons, for example,
``#if PY_VERSION_HEX >= ...``.
.. c:var:: const unsigned long Py_Version
The Python runtime version number encoded in a single constant integer.
See :c:func:`Py_PACK_FULL_VERSION` for the encoding details.
This contains the Python version used at run time.
Use this for numeric comparisons, for example, ``if (Py_Version >= ...)``.
.. versionadded:: 3.11
.. c:function:: uint32_t Py_PACK_FULL_VERSION(int major, int minor, int micro, int release_level, int release_serial)
Return the given version, encoded as a single 32-bit integer with
the following structure:
+------------------+-------+----------------+-----------+--------------------------+
| | No. | | | Example values |
| | of | | +-------------+------------+
| Argument | bits | Bit mask | Bit shift | ``3.4.1a2`` | ``3.10.0`` |
+==================+=======+================+===========+=============+============+
| *major* | 8 | ``0xFF000000`` | 24 | ``0x03`` | ``0x03`` |
+------------------+-------+----------------+-----------+-------------+------------+
| *minor* | 8 | ``0x00FF0000`` | 16 | ``0x04`` | ``0x0A`` |
+------------------+-------+----------------+-----------+-------------+------------+
| *micro* | 8 | ``0x0000FF00`` | 8 | ``0x01`` | ``0x00`` |
+------------------+-------+----------------+-----------+-------------+------------+
| *release_level* | 4 | ``0x000000F0`` | 4 | ``0xA`` | ``0xF`` |
+------------------+-------+----------------+-----------+-------------+------------+
| *release_serial* | 4 | ``0x0000000F`` | 0 | ``0x2`` | ``0x0`` |
+------------------+-------+----------------+-----------+-------------+------------+
For example:
+-------------+------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Version | ``Py_PACK_FULL_VERSION`` arguments | Encoded version |
+=============+====================================+=================+
| ``3.4.1a2`` | ``(3, 4, 1, 0xA, 2)`` | ``0x030401a2`` |
+-------------+------------------------------------+-----------------+
| ``3.10.0`` | ``(3, 10, 0, 0xF, 0)`` | ``0x030a00f0`` |
+-------------+------------------------------------+-----------------+
Out-of range bits in the arguments are ignored.
That is, the macro can be defined as:
.. code-block:: c
#ifndef Py_PACK_FULL_VERSION
#define Py_PACK_FULL_VERSION(X, Y, Z, LEVEL, SERIAL) ( \
(((X) & 0xff) << 24) | \
(((Y) & 0xff) << 16) | \
(((Z) & 0xff) << 8) | \
(((LEVEL) & 0xf) << 4) | \
(((SERIAL) & 0xf) << 0))
#endif
``Py_PACK_FULL_VERSION`` is primarily a macro, intended for use in
``#if`` directives, but it is also available as an exported function.
.. versionadded:: 3.14
.. c:function:: uint32_t Py_PACK_VERSION(int major, int minor)
Equivalent to ``Py_PACK_FULL_VERSION(major, minor, 0, 0, 0)``.
The result does not correspond to any Python release, but is useful
in numeric comparisons.
.. versionadded:: 3.14