"CPython"

[MRAB]

On 2022-06-21 02:33, Chris Angelico wrote:
> On Tue, 21 Jun 2022 at 11:13, Paulo da Silva
> <p_d_a_s_i_l_v_a_ns at nonetnoaddress.pt> wrote:
>>
>> Às 20:01 de 20/06/22, Paulo da Silva escreveu:
>> > Às 18:19 de 20/06/22, Stefan Ram escreveu:
>> >>    The same personality traits that make people react
>> >>    to troll postings might make them spread unconfirmed
>> >>    ideas about the meaning of "C" in "CPython".
>> >>
>> >>    The /core/ of CPython is written in C.
>> >>
>> >>    CPython is the /canonical/ implementation of Python.
>> >>
>> >>    The "C" in "CPython" stands for C.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> > Not so "unconfirmed"!
>> > Look at this article, I recently read:
>> > https://www.analyticsinsight.net/cpython-to-step-over-javascript-in-developing-web-applications/
>> >
>> >
>> > There is a sentence in ther that begins with "CPython, short for Core
>> > Python, a reference implementation that other Python distributions are
>> > derived from, ...".
>> >
>> > Anyway, I wrote "IMHO".
>> >
>> > Do you have any credible reference to your assertion "The "C" in
>> > "CPython" stands for C."?
>> >
>> > Thank you.
>>
>> Well ... I read the responses and they are not touching the point!
>> I just answered, with my opinion based on articles I have read in the
>> past. Certainly I could not be sure. That's why I responded as an
>> opinion (IMHO) and not as an assertion.
>> Stefan Ram responded with a, at least, not very polite post.
>> That's why I needed to somehow "defend" why I posted that response, and,
>> BTW, trying to learn why he said that the C in CPython means "written in C".
>>
>> I still find very strange, to not say weird, that a compiler or
>> interpreter has a name based in the language it was written. But, again,
>> is just my opinion and nothing more.
>>
> 
> Not sure why it's strange. The point is to distinguish "CPython" from
> "Jython" or "Brython" or "PyPy" or any of the other implementations.
> Yes, CPython has a special place because it's the reference
> implementation and the most popular, but the one thing that makes it
> distinct from all the others is that it's implemented in C.
> 
And just to make it clear, the interpreter/compiler _itself_ is still 
called "python". "CPython" is a name/term that was applied retroactively 
to that particular implementation when another implementation appeared.

> I could, perhaps, create my own interpreter and name it "RosuavPython"
> after myself, but when something's made by a team, it's usually more
> useful to pick something that is fundamental to it (Brython is
> designed to be run in a browser, Jython is written in Python to make
> it easy to call on Java classes, etc).
> 
> ChrisA