compiled or interpreted?

[piet at cs.uu.nl]

>>>>> "Matt Frey" <freydaddy at kricket.net> (MF) writes:

MF> Is Python a compiled language that can be run on a platform like c++, or is
MF> it interpreted like java, or is it in a class of its own?

It is interpreted in the same way as Java: First the code is compiled to
bytecode, then the bytecode is interpreted.
The bytecode used is different from the one used in Java.
Another difference is that the compile cycle is implicit, unlike in Java
where you have to call the compiler explicitely (unless your IDE does it for
you). 
And Python doesn't have a JIT, like Java.
-- 
Piet van Oostrum <piet at cs.uu.nl>
URL: http://www.cs.uu.nl/~piet [PGP]
Private email: P.van.Oostrum at hccnet.nl