Upgrade the minimum version of Python to 3.8

* The Python Foundation has dropped the support of Python 3.7 since Aug 17th, 2023.
* GitHub is relaxing its support for Python 3.6 and 3.7 (see the GitHub blog - post from Aug 2nd, 2023).

.github/workflows/cpp-python-build.yml

@@ -87,10 +87,10 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           sudo apt-get update
           sudo apt-get install cxxtest valgrind binutils-dev
-      - name: Set up Python 3.7
+      - name: Set up Python 3.8
         uses: actions/setup-python@v4
         with:
-          python-version: '3.7'
+          python-version: '3.8'
       - name: Install Python packages
         run: pip install -U cython 'numpy>=1.20' pandas scipy wheel valgrindci 'setuptools>=60.0.0'
       - name: Configure Julia
@@ -288,10 +288,10 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         shared_libs: [ON, OFF]
     steps:
-      - name: Set up Python 3.7
+      - name: Set up Python 3.8
         uses: actions/setup-python@v4
         with:
-          python-version: '3.7'
+          python-version: '3.8'
       - name: Install Python packages
         run: pip install -U cython 'numpy>=1.20' pandas scipy wheel pywin32 'setuptools>=60.0.0'
       - name: Checkout JSBSim
@@ -436,10 +436,10 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         arch: [x86_64, arm64]
     steps:
-      - name: Set up Python 3.7
+      - name: Set up Python 3.8
         uses: actions/setup-python@v4
         with:
-          python-version: '3.7'
+          python-version: '3.8'
       - name: Install Python packages
         if: matrix.arch == 'x86_64'
         run: pip install -U cython 'numpy>=1.20' pandas scipy build 'setuptools>=60.0.0' mypy
@@ -532,7 +532,7 @@ jobs:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
-        python-version: [3.7]
+        python-version: [3.8]
         include:
           - python-version: 3.9
             os: windows-latest
@@ -655,8 +655,8 @@ jobs:
             rm -f CMakeCache.txt
             cmake -DCMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES="arm64;x86_64" -DCMAKE_C_FLAGS_RELEASE="-g -O2 -DNDEBUG -fno-math-errno" -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE="-g -O2 -DNDEBUG -fno-math-errno" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..
             cmake --build . --target libJSBSim -- -j3
-          CIBW_ARCHS_MACOS: x86_64 universal2
-          CIBW_SKIP: cp*-musllinux_* cp38-macosx_x86_64 cp39-macosx_x86_64 cp310-macosx_x86_64 cp311-macosx_x86_64 cp312-macosx_x86_64
+          CIBW_ARCHS_MACOS: universal2
+          CIBW_SKIP: cp*-musllinux_*
           CIBW_ARCHS_WINDOWS: native
           JSBSIM_BUILD_CONFIG: RelWithDebInfo
         with:
@@ -793,10 +793,10 @@ jobs:
           find . -type f -name *.deb -exec cp {} GH_release/. \;
 
       # PyPI deployment
-      - name: Set up Python 3.7
+      - name: Set up Python 3.8
         uses: actions/setup-python@v4
         with:
-          python-version: '3.7'
+          python-version: '3.8'
       - name: PyPI deployment
         uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1
 
@@ -895,10 +895,10 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           sudo apt-get update
           sudo apt-get install doxygen graphviz
-      - name: Set up Python 3.7
+      - name: Set up Python 3.8
         uses: actions/setup-python@v4
         with:
-          python-version: '3.7'
+          python-version: '3.8'
       - name: Install Python packages
         run: pip install -U 'numpy>=1.20' sphinx cython
       - name: Checkout JSBSim

README.md

@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ Debian packages for Ubuntu Linux "Focal" 20.04 LTS and "Jammy" 22.04 LTS for 64
 
 ### Python module
 
-JSBSim provides binary wheel packages for its Python module on Windows, Mac OSX and Linux platforms for several Python versions (3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.10 and 3.11). These can be installed using either `pip` or `conda`.
+JSBSim provides binary wheel packages for its Python module on Windows, Mac OSX and Linux platforms for several Python versions (3.8, 3.9, 3.10, 3.11 and 3.12). These can be installed using either `pip` or `conda`.
 
 #### Installation with `pip`
 

python/setup.py.in

@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ setup(
     scripts=['JSBSim.py'],
     install_requires=['numpy>=1.20'],
     ext_modules=[Extension('jsbsim._jsbsim', language='c++', **ext_kwargs)],
-    python_requires=">=3.7",
+    python_requires=">=3.8",
     packages=['jsbsim'],
     package_data={'jsbsim': package_data_files},
     zip_safe=False,  # needed for mypy to find the type hints stubs