Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by bjoli 58 days ago
And, in some ways, PyPy. I still think it is the sanest way to implement Python.

It makes me sad that I have to write C to make any meaningful changes to Python. Same goes for ruby. Rubinius was such a nice project.

Hacking on schemes and lisps made me realize how much more fun it is when the language is implemented in the language itself. It also makes sure you have the right abstractions for solving a bunch of real problems.
2 comments
actionfromafar 57 days ago
Well, one could rewrite Python (perhaps piece by piece?) in Shedskin.

Shedskin is very nearly Python compatible, one could say it is an implementation of Python.

link
anitil 58 days ago
> And, in some ways, PyPy

What do you mean by that? I'm not familiar with PyPy

link
nxpnsv 58 days ago
PyPy is python implemented in python. It is fast.
link
notpushkin 58 days ago
https://pypy.org/

It lags behind CPython in features and currently only supports Python versions up to 3.11. There was a big discussion a month ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47293415

But you can help! https://pypy.org/howtohelp.html

https://opencollective.com/pypy

link
Doxin 58 days ago
PyPy is python implemented in RPython, which is technically a python subset. It's so restricted it might as well be a different language though.
link
bjoli 58 days ago
It is restricted in a way that you would restrict yourself to write high speed software in most languages, and I found it is not that restrictive compared to C that you would have to use if you were to write a fast Python library.
link
Doxin 57 days ago
oh for sure, but I still feel like telling people pypy is written in python is misleading. it's written in something significantly like python, but it's not python.
link
mjmas 57 days ago
> technically a python subset

So it can just run under CPython? If so, then that isn't too misleading.

link
bjoli 57 days ago
Yes. It can run under Cpython (2.7).
link
nxpnsv 57 days ago
PyRPy is just less catchy sounding
link
wyldfire 57 days ago
The fact that it's written in python is often brought up in order to explain its name. But really, it's much less interesting than the fact that it has a tracing JIT. If it were called PyJIT I'd bet it would be clearer and more obvious that it's fast. And people would prob get less hung up on the distinction between python/rpython.
link