[Python-Dev] noob question regarding the interpreter

[Jing Su]

Hello,

I know this is a n00b question, so I apologize ahead of time.

I've been taking a look at they python interpreter, trying to understand how 
it works on the compiled byte-codes. Looking through the sources of the 
2.4.1 stable version, it looks like Python/ceval.c is the module that does 
the main dispatch. However, it looks like a switched interpreter. I just 
find this surprising because python seems to run pretty fast, and a switched 
interpreter is usually painfully slow.

Is there work to change python into a direct-threaded or even JIT'ed 
interpreter? Has there been previous discussion on this topic? I'd greatly 
appreciate any pointers to discussions on this topic. Thus far my google-fu 
has not turned up fruitful hits. 

Thanks in advance for any help!
-Jing
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