Implementing my own Python interpreter

[Ognjen Bezanov]

Hello All,

I am a third year computer science student and I'm the process of
selection for my final year project.

One option that was thought up was the idea of implement my own version
of the python interpreter (I'm referring to CPython here). Either as a
process running on another OS or as a process running directly on the CPU.

Now, I can't seem to find a decent source of information on the python
interpreter. I have made the assumption that Python works very much like
Java, you have code that is compiled into bytecode, which is then
executed in a virtual machine. IS this correct? Is there a good source
to give me an overview of Python internals? (I can look at the code, but
I would find it easier to understand if I can see the "big picture" as well)

Also, any pro's out there willing to chime on the feasibility of
implementing python to run directly on the hardware (without an
underlying OS)? I don't expect 100% compatibility, but would the basics
(branching, looping, arithmatic) be feasible?

Thank you,


Ognjen