[Python-ideas] Python-ideas Digest, Vol 90, Issue 30

[Antoine Pitrou]

On Fri, 23 May 2014 06:39:54 -0400
Ned Batchelder <ned at nedbatchelder.com>
wrote:
> On 5/23/14 5:53 AM, Antoine Pitrou wrote:
> > On Thu, 22 May 2014 22:53:28 -0400
> > Terry Reedy <tjreedy at udel.edu> wrote:
> >>> I'd like to understand why we think the Python compiler is different in
> >>> this regard than a C compiler.
> >> Python is a different language. But let us not get sidetracked on that.
> > The number one difference is that people don't compile code explicitly
> > when writing Python code (well, except packagers who call compileall(),
> > and a few advanced uses). So "choosing compilation options" is really
> > not part of the standard workflow for developing in Python.
> 
> That seems an odd distinction to make, given that we already do have 
> ways to control how the compilation step happens, and we are having no 
> trouble imagining other ways to control it.  Whether you like those 
> options or not, you have to admit that we do have ways to tell Python 
> how we want compilation to happen.

My point is that almost nobody ever cares about them. The standard
model for execution Python code is "python mycode.py" or
"python -m mymodule". Compilation is invisible for the average user.

Regards

Antoine.