A future statement, from __future__ import <feature>, directs the compiler to compile the current module using syntax or semantics that will become standard in a future release of Python. The __future__ module documents the possible values of feature. By importing this module and evaluating its variables, you can see when a new feature was first added to the language and when it will (or did) become the default:

>>> import __future__
>>> __future__.division
_Feature((2, 2, 0, 'alpha', 2), (3, 0, 0, 'alpha', 0), 8192)