Python vs. Lisp -- please explain

[Terry Reedy]

"Paul Boddie" <paul at boddie.org.uk> wrote in message 
news:1140510785.531218.93640 at g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Well, yes, I suppose you could have something just interpreting
> bytecodes and with no support for parsing and compiling Python the
> language - I suppose PyMite [1, 2] and other similar works are like
> that.
>
>> The the compiler is built into the VM as opposed to a separate tool
>> (like Java) is just an implementation issue.

The presence of the exec statement and the eval function (which is used by 
the input statement) requires the runtime presence of the parser-compiler. 
Removing the latter disables the former features.  This is legitimite when 
not needed or when space is tight, but the result is no longer a full 
implementation.

Terry Jan Reedy