feat: remove Python 3.8

.github/workflows/ci-build.yml

@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ jobs:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         os: [windows-latest, ubuntu-latest]
-        python-version: ['3.8', '3.9', '3.10', '3.11']
+        python-version: ['3.9', '3.10', '3.11']
 
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ jobs:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         os: [windows-latest, ubuntu-latest]
-        python-version: ['3.8', '3.9', '3.10', '3.11']
+        python-version: ['3.9', '3.10', '3.11']
         extras-version: ['fluent-all', 'mapdl-all', 'tools']
 
     steps:
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ jobs:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         os: [windows-latest, ubuntu-latest, macos-latest]
-        python-version: ['3.8', '3.9', '3.10', '3.11']
+        python-version: ['3.9', '3.10', '3.11']
 
     steps:
       - name: Build wheelhouse and perform smoke test
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: ansys/actions/release-github@v4
         with:
           library-name: ${{ env.PACKAGE_NAME }}
-          additional-artifacts: 'all-deps-Linux-3.8 all-deps-Linux-3.9 all-deps-Linux-3.10 all-deps-Linux-3.11 all-deps-Windows-3.8 all-deps-Windows-3.9 all-deps-Windows-3.10 all-deps-Windows-3.11 all-deps-macOS-3.8 all-deps-macOS-3.9 all-deps-macOS-3.10 all-deps-macOS-3.11'
+          additional-artifacts: 'all-deps-Linux-3.9 all-deps-Linux-3.10 all-deps-Linux-3.11 all-deps-Windows-3.9 all-deps-Windows-3.10 all-deps-Windows-3.11 all-deps-macOS-3.9 all-deps-macOS-3.10 all-deps-macOS-3.11'
 
   docs-release:
     name: Deploy release docs

README.rst

@@ -153,15 +153,15 @@ the ``pyansys`` metapackage is downloading the wheelhouse archive from the
 `Releases Page <https://github.com/ansys/pyansys/releases>`_ for your corresponding machine architecture.
 
 Each wheelhouse archive contains all the Python wheels necessary to install the ``pyansys`` metapackage from
-scratch on Windows, Linux, and MacOS from Python 3.8 to 3.11. You can install this on an isolated system with
+scratch on Windows, Linux, and MacOS from Python 3.9 to 3.11. You can install this on an isolated system with
 a fresh Python installation or on a virtual environment.
 
-For example, on Linux with Python 3.8, unzip the wheelhouse archive and install it with the following
+For example, on Linux with Python 3.9, unzip the wheelhouse archive and install it with the following
 commands:
 
 .. code:: bash
 
-    unzip pyansys-v2024.2.dev0-wheelhouse-Linux-3.8-core.zip wheelhouse
+    unzip pyansys-v2024.2.dev0-wheelhouse-Linux-3.9-core.zip wheelhouse
     pip install pyansys -f wheelhouse --no-index --upgrade --ignore-installed
 
 If you're on Windows with Python 3.9, unzip to a wheelhouse directory and then install using

doc/source/getting_started.rst

@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ corresponding machine architecture.
 
 Each wheelhouse archive contains all the Python wheels necessary to install
 ``pyansys`` metapackage from scratch on Windows, Linux, and MacOS from Python
-3.8 to 3.11. You can install this on an isolated system with a fresh Python
+3.9 to 3.11. You can install this on an isolated system with a fresh Python
 installation or on a virtual environment.
 
 For example, on Linux with Python 3.9, unzip the wheelhouse archive and install

pyproject.toml

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ name = "pyansys"
 version = "2024.2.dev0"
 description = "Pythonic interfaces to Ansys products"
 readme = "README.rst"
-requires-python = ">=3.8,<4"
+requires-python = ">=3.9,<4"
 license = {file = "LICENSE"}
 authors = [{name = "ANSYS, Inc.", email = "[email protected]"}]
 maintainers = [{name = "PyAnsys developers", email = "[email protected]"}]
@@ -18,14 +18,12 @@ classifiers = [
     "Topic :: Scientific/Engineering :: Information Analysis",
     "License :: OSI Approved :: MIT License",
     "Operating System :: OS Independent",
-    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11",
 ]
 
 dependencies = [
-    "importlib-metadata>=4.0,<5; python_version<='3.8'",
     "ansys-dpf-composites==0.3.2",
     "ansys-dpf-core==0.9.0",
     "ansys-dpf-post==0.5.0",

src/pyansys/__init__.py

@@ -1,9 +1,5 @@
 """PyAnsys general package __init__ file."""
-
-try:
-    import importlib.metadata as importlib_metadata
-except ModuleNotFoundError:  # pragma: no cover
-    import importlib_metadata
+import importlib.metadata as importlib_metadata
 
 # Read from the pyproject.toml
 # major, minor, patch