Psyco alternative

Steve Holden steve at holdenweb.com
Thu Apr 24 22:57:07 EDT 2008


sturlamolden wrote:
> On Apr 25, 3:27 am, Steve Holden <st... at holdenweb.com> wrote:
> 
>> That seems a little harsh: it's Python-in-a-strait-jacket.
>>
>> The fact remains that since RPython programs also run under the standard
>> interpreter (albeit a factor of maybe a hundred times more slowly) their
>> claim of self-hosting is valid.
> 
> What is the smallest subset of Python needed to make a Turing complete
> computer language? And would you still call that Python?
> 
That's completely irrelevant. Let's just step back a bit. You started 
this by saying:

> On Mar 27, 4:44 pm, Jean-Paul Calderone <exar... at divmod.com> wrote:
> 
>> > PyPy is self-hosted and has been for some time (a year or so?).
> 
> This is technically not correct. PyPy is hosted by RPython, which is
> not Python but a different language all together.

I am simply pointing out that RPython is used for efficiency, not to do 
things that can't be done in standard Python. Since everything that is 
done in RPython can also be done, albeit more slowly, in standard 
Python, the claim to be self-hosting is valid despite your disagreement.

In other words, you can take the PyPy translator and run it on CPython. 
The fact that they choose to use restricted Python instead in their 
"production" system is merely an optimization.

regards
  Steve
-- 
Steve Holden        +1 571 484 6266   +1 800 494 3119
Holden Web LLC              http://www.holdenweb.com/




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