chore: drop Python 3.8/3.9 support, bump minimum to 3.10 (#958)

Python 3.8 reached EOL in October 2024 and 3.9 in October 2025. The lmdb
package is also broken on Python 3.8 CI runners. Update classifiers,
requires-python, CI matrix, docs, and remove legacy Python <3.8
fallbacks.

<!-- This is an auto-generated comment: release notes by coderabbit.ai
-->
## Summary by CodeRabbit

* **Chores**
* Raised minimum supported Python to 3.10 and removed older 3.8/3.9
support.
* Added official support for newer Python versions (including
3.12/3.13).
* Updated CI/CD workflows and test matrix to target current Python
versions.
* Removed legacy compatibility dependency markers and simplified
optional dependencies.

* **Documentation**
  * Updated installation and README to reflect Python 3.10+ requirement.
<!-- end of auto-generated comment: release notes by coderabbit.ai -->

---------

Co-authored-by: Han Wang <wang_han@iapcm.ac.cn>
Co-authored-by: pre-commit-ci[bot] <66853113+pre-commit-ci[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Jinzhe Zeng <jinzhe.zeng@ustc.edu.cn>

Author: 4 people

.github/workflows/pub-pypi.yml

@@ -10,10 +10,10 @@ jobs:
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@master
 
-    - name: Set up Python 3.9
+    - name: Set up Python 3.10
       uses: actions/setup-python@master
       with:
-        python-version: 3.9
+        python-version: "3.10"
 
     - name: Install pypa/build
       run: >-

.github/workflows/test.yml

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        python-version: ["3.8", "3.12"]
+        python-version: ["3.10", "3.13"]
 
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v6

.github/workflows/test_import.yml

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ jobs:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v6
     - uses: actions/setup-python@v6
       with:
-        python-version: '3.9'
+        python-version: '3.10'
         architecture: 'x64'
     - run: python -m pip install uv
     - run: python -m uv pip install --system .

README.md

@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ If you use this software, please cite the following paper:
 
 ## Installation
 
-dpdata only supports Python 3.8 and above. You can [setup a conda/pip environment](https://docs.deepmodeling.com/faq/conda.html), and then use one of the following methods to install dpdata:
+dpdata only supports Python 3.10 and above. You can [setup a conda/pip environment](https://docs.deepmodeling.com/faq/conda.html), and then use one of the following methods to install dpdata:
 
 - Install via pip: `pip install dpdata`
 - Install via conda: `conda install -c conda-forge dpdata`

docs/installation.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Installation
 
-dpdata only supports Python 3.8 and above. You can [setup a conda/pip environment](https://docs.deepmodeling.com/faq/conda.html), and then use one of the following methods to install dpdata:
+dpdata only supports Python 3.10 and above. You can [setup a conda/pip environment](https://docs.deepmodeling.com/faq/conda.html), and then use one of the following methods to install dpdata:
 
 - Install via pip: `pip install dpdata`
 - Install via conda: `conda install -c conda-forge dpdata`

dpdata/driver.py

@@ -3,11 +3,13 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Callable
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
 from .plugin import Plugin
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from collections.abc import Callable
+
     import ase.calculators.calculator
 
 

dpdata/plugins/__init__.py

@@ -1,13 +1,9 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import importlib
+from importlib import metadata
 from pathlib import Path
 
-try:
-    from importlib import metadata
-except ImportError:  # for Python<3.8
-    import importlib_metadata as metadata
-
 PACKAGE_BASE = "dpdata.plugins"
 NOT_LOADABLE = ("__init__.py",)
 

dpdata/plugins/ase.py

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import os
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Generator
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
 import numpy as np
 
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
 from dpdata.format import Format
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from collections.abc import Generator
+
     import ase
     from ase.optimize.optimize import Optimizer
 

dpdata/system.py

@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
 from typing import (
     TYPE_CHECKING,
     Any,
-    Iterable,
     Literal,
     overload,
 )
@@ -37,6 +36,8 @@
 )
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from collections.abc import Iterable
+
     import parmed
 
 

dpdata/utils.py

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import io
 import os
 from contextlib import contextmanager
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Generator, Literal, overload
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Literal, overload
 
 import numpy as np
 
@@ -130,6 +130,8 @@ def utf8len(s: str) -> int:
 
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from collections.abc import Generator
+
     FileType = io.IOBase | str | os.PathLike