{"id":10037,"library":"pickle5","title":"pickle5 backport for older Python","description":"pickle5 is a backport of the pickle protocol 5 (PEP 574) and other related changes, primarily for Python versions prior to 3.8. It provides the performance improvements and features of protocol 5 for Python 3.5, 3.6, and 3.7. The library is currently at version 0.0.12 and is no longer actively maintained, as its purpose has been superseded by native support in Python 3.8+.","status":"abandoned","version":"0.0.12","language":"en","source_language":"en","source_url":"https://github.com/pitrou/pickle5-backport","tags":["serialization","pickle","backport","protocol","python3"],"install":[{"cmd":"pip install pickle5","lang":"bash","label":"Install on supported Python"}],"dependencies":[],"imports":[{"symbol":"pickle5","correct":"import pickle5"},{"note":"Use pickle5's functions directly for protocol 5 on older Pythons, not the standard library's pickle.","wrong":"from pickle import dump","symbol":"dump","correct":"from pickle5 import dump, load"}],"quickstart":{"code":"import pickle5\nimport os\n\ndata = {'name': 'Alice', 'age': 30, 'city': 'New York'}\n\n# Dump data using pickle5 (protocol 5 is default)\nwith open('data.pickle5', 'wb') as f:\n    pickle5.dump(data, f)\n\nprint(\"Data successfully pickled to data.pickle5 using pickle5.\")\n\n# Load data using pickle5\nwith open('data.pickle5', 'rb') as f:\n    loaded_data = pickle5.load(f)\n\nprint(f\"Data successfully loaded: {loaded_data}\")\n\n# Clean up\nos.remove('data.pickle5')","lang":"python","description":"This example demonstrates how to use `pickle5` to dump and load a Python dictionary. `pickle5` automatically uses protocol 5 by default, offering improvements over earlier pickle protocols available in older Python versions."},"warnings":[{"fix":"Do not install `pickle5` on Python 3.8 or newer. Use the standard `import pickle` module, which includes protocol 5 support. If you have it installed, uninstall it: `pip uninstall pickle5`.","message":"Installing `pickle5` on Python 3.8 or newer will fail due to `python_requires` constraints. If forcefully installed (e.g., via `pip install --no-deps` on an unsupported Python version), it can lead to subtle runtime issues, conflicts with the built-in `pickle` module, and unpredictable behavior, as Python 3.8+ already natively supports pickle protocol 5.","severity":"breaking","affected_versions":"Python >= 3.8"},{"fix":"Evaluate your project's Python version requirements. If you are targeting Python 3.8+, simply use `import pickle` and specify `protocol=5` if needed, or rely on the default highest protocol.","message":"The `pickle5` library is only necessary for Python versions 3.5, 3.6, and 3.7 to access pickle protocol 5. For Python 3.8 and all subsequent versions, protocol 5 is part of the standard `pickle` library and `pickle5` offers no additional functionality.","severity":"gotcha","affected_versions":"Python < 3.8"},{"fix":"It is highly recommended to upgrade your Python environment to 3.8 or newer to utilize the native `pickle` module's protocol 5 support and benefit from continued language updates and security patches.","message":"The `pickle5` library is no longer actively maintained as its primary use case (backporting protocol 5) has been superseded by native Python versions. Relying on an unmaintained backport for critical serialization can introduce risks.","severity":"deprecated","affected_versions":"All versions"}],"env_vars":null,"last_verified":"2026-04-17T00:00:00.000Z","next_check":"2026-07-16T00:00:00.000Z","problems":[{"fix":"Install the library using pip: `pip install pickle5`","cause":"The `pickle5` library has not been installed in your Python environment.","error":"ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pickle5'"},{"fix":"If your Python version is 3.8 or newer, `pickle5` is not needed; use the standard `import pickle` module instead. If you must use `pickle5`, you need to use a compatible Python environment (3.5-3.7).","cause":"You are attempting to install `pickle5` on a Python version that is not supported by the library. `pickle5` is explicitly designed for Python 3.5-3.7.","error":"ERROR: Package 'pickle5' requires a different Python version: 3.x.x but '>=3.5,<3.8' was specified."}]}