This week stayed practical. Linting and packaging moved, Django shipped a real security fix, FastAPI pushed a tidy cut, Polars released again, and pytest hit a major. If you are on 3.14, this is a safe window to bump, test, and lock.
pytest 9.0.0
Major release with breaking changes. Read the notes before bumping. Pin explicitly and run your suite on a branch first. Good moment to prune stale plugins.
Ruff 0.14.4
Update your pre-commit so everyone formats and lints the same. Keep any new checks as warnings for one sprint, then flip to errors.
uv 0.9.7
Pin on one service and re-time CI before and after. Decide with numbers. Lock between deploys.
Django 5.2.8 security
Patches a high-severity SQL injection vector and a Windows redirect DoS. If you are on 5.2.x, bump now. The 5.1 and 4.2 lines also received fixes.
FastAPI 0.121.1
Small compatibility follow-up. If you are on Python 3.14 with Pydantic 2.12.x, take this midweek. Reminder: pip install "fastapi[standard]" includes the FastAPI Cloud CLI so fastapi deploy is available by default.
Polars 1.35.2
Maintenance release. Safe pin for analytics or ETL moving to Python 3.14.
Pydantic 2.12.4
Patch on the 2.12 line. If you already moved to 2.12, take it. If you are still on V1, note V1 is not compatible with 3.14 and you should plan the migration.
Q4 Python Salary Brief (snapshot)
Ranges below are from the current Snake Signals Salary Guide. We update quarterly and publish the method. Notes apply at every level: top startups and Big Tech can exceed the bracket. Trading and quant firms often run higher again due to bonus and total comp. Salary is often highly dependent on stage of startup (pre-seed, seed, Series A etc), quality of company and technical bar.
Level | UK | Europe | USA | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Junior | £40,000–£55,000 | €40,000–€50,000 | $80,000–$140,000 | Top startups and Big Tech can exceed. Trading and quant firms often higher. |
Mid | £50,000–£80,000 | €55,000–€75,000 | $130,000–$190,000 | Top startups and Big Tech can exceed. Trading and quant firms often higher. |
Senior | £75,000–£110,000 | €80,000–€100,000 | $160,000–$240,000 | Top startups and Big Tech can exceed. Trading and quant firms often higher. |
Principal/Lead/Staff | £100,000–£140,000 | €100,000–€140,000 | $200,000–$300,000 | Top startups and Big Tech can exceed. Trading and quant firms often higher. |
Quick guidance
Hiring managers: post the range in the ad, publish your loop, and review bands after 10 offers or 90 days. It increases qualified applications and reduces negotiation churn.
Candidates: lead your CV with role, stack, impact, scale. Calibrate your ask with the ranges above, then validate with the full guide.
I’ve updated the Snake Signals website with all of the above base salary information, plus more additional sections on equity based on stage of startup, location etc. Check it out!
What to do this week
Review pytest 9.0.0 breaking changes on a branch. Pin explicitly and upgrade with intent.
Bump Ruff to 0.14.4 in pre-commit. Ship new checks as warnings for one sprint.
Pin uv 0.9.7 on one service and record CI time to green before and after. Roll out if it pays off.
Patch Django to 5.2.8 or the equivalent on 5.1 or 4.2 and run a focused smoke test.
If you run FastAPI, take 0.121.1 once you are on Pydantic 2.12.x.
Data teams: evaluate Polars 1.35.2 as your 3.14 friendly DataFrame baseline.
Validation: move to Pydantic 2.12.4 if you are already on 2.12.
If the website has helped already or might help in the future, share it with someone who builds or hires in Python. New readers can join at snakesignals.com.
Hiring? Contact
Josh Smith
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/python-recruitment/
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 01727 225 552