From: holger krekel <pyth@trillke.net>

We announce a mailinglist dedicated to developing a "Minimal Python" version. Minimal means that we want to have a very small C-core and as much as possible (re)implemented in python itself. This includes (parts of) the VM-Code.

From: Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org> Way cool.

+1 I've been thinking of proposing a very similar thing - though I was thinking "Python in Python" which suggest all sorts of interesting logo ideas. :-)

We are very interested in learning about and integrating prior art. And in hearing any doubtful or reinforcing opinions. Expertise is welcomed in all areas.

The Squeak Smalltalk implementation is interesting & relevant: http://www.squeak.org/features/vm.html The Squeak VM is written in a subset of Smalltalk ("Slang", different from "S-lang") that can be translated directly to C. This core provides the interpreter for the rest of the language, allowing the entire system to be very portable, and it facilitates development in many ways - you get to work on the core while working in your favorite language, you get to use all your favorite tools, etc. Plus I expect the translatable subset provides a solid, simple basis for integrating external code. I think a similar approach would be very useful in Minimal Python (... in Python), probably adopting ideas from Psyco http://psyco.sourceforge.net/ and/or Pyrex http://www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/~greg/python/Pyrex/ as the foundation for the "compilable subset". This would also provide a nice basis for a Jython implementation... Can-I-play-with-it-yet?-ly y'rs, kb