Tips or strategies to understanding how CPython works under the hood

[Chris Angelico]

On Fri, Jan 12, 2018 at 9:52 AM, Skip Montanaro
<skip.montanaro at gmail.com> wrote:
>> So besides just grabbing a chunk of CPython source code and digesting it, I
>> was wondering if those of you have read and understood the source code, do
>> you have any tips or good starting points?
>
> Not mentioned yet, but maybe worth considering, might be to dip into
> the way back machine and start with a much earlier version of Python,
> maybe 1.5.2 or 2.0. The basic structure of the system is still there,
> but without much of the complexity which came along with more recent
> changes. No Unicode, types and classes were still separate, the
> bytecode interpreter was much simpler, many types were simpler.
>
> Once you have the basic foundation, pick something which has changed
> significantly, and make a deep dive into it.

Hmm. While I see the value in that, I think there's more value in
testing what's actually familiar. Work with the current version, and
tinker with it while you explore it. Unicode text, particularly, is
worth hanging onto.

ChrisA