Python compilers?

[Svein Ove Aas]

Leif K-Brooks wrote:

> Svein Ove Aas wrote:
>> Is anyone working on a python-to-native compiler?
>> I'd be interested in taking a look.
> 
> What are you trying to achieve?
> 
> If it's faster code execution, the primary slowdown with a very
> high-level language like Python is caused by high-level data structures
> (introspection, everything being an object, etc.), not the code itself.
> A native compiler would still have to use high-level data structures to
> work with all Python code, so the speed increase wouldn't be very much.

I'd like to point out the usual suspects: Lisp compilers.
*They* somehow manage to get within 2x of C++ speed, so why can't Python?
 
> If it's ease of distribution you're looking for, I think distutils can
> make standalone programs on Windows, and most Linux distros have Python
> installed by default.

Nope.
 
> If you just think a compiler would be cool (or would like to see how it
> would be done), check out Psyco, Pyrex, and probably some other
> projects. Pyrex even combats the speed issue by allowing native C types
> to be used in addition to Python high-level types.

Erk.
Seems to me that you want 'smarter', not 'worse'. I can't take a language
seriously if it says that 1/3 is 0.33333... .