ANNOUNCING:
Stackless Python 0.3 A Python Implementation Which Does Not Use The C Stack
What is it? A plugin-replacement for core Python. It should run any program which runs under Python 1.5.2 . But it does not need space on the C stack.
Why did I write it? Stackless Python was never written before (afaik), since it was said to be impossible without major rewrites of core Python. I am proving the controverse: It is easy to write, just hard to think.
Recent changes: Version 0.3 has been written while developing a continuation module which is about to ship. A couple of enhancements and changes were necessary to make continuations fly. Some drastic changes to frame management have been made. Stackless Python is now also able to keep track of recursive interpreter incarnations and to detect/resolve possible collisions between their frames. As a proof of concept, continuationsmodule.c will ship in a few days.
Who needs it? At the moment, this is only useful for C programmers who want to try certain new ideas. Hardcore stuff. It allows to modify the current execution state by changing the frame stack chain without restictions, and it allows for pluggable interpreters on a per-frame-basis.
The possibilities are for instance:
Continuations, with which we will build Coroutines and Generators
Restartable exceptions and Persistent execution state are the next topic to think about. They are possible.
Stackless extension modules can be built. The new builtin stackless "map" function is a small example for this.
Coroutines are able to run at the speed of a single C function call, which makes them a considerable alternative in certain algorithms. This is no longer a speculation since I have working coroutine prototypes, written with continuations.
Status of the project: Stackless-ness has been implemented and tested with pystone. pystone works correctly and is about 10 % slower than with standard Python.
What I need at the moment is - time to do the right design of coroutines on top of continuations - your input, your testing, critics and hints.
Some still rough documentation is available at http://www.pns.cc/stackless/stackless.htm
Source code and a VC++6.0 build for Windows can be found from the document or directly from ftp://ftp.pns.cc/pub/stackless_990712.zip ftp://ftp.pns.cc/pub/stackless_990712_win32.zip
cheers - chris
== Christian Tismer :^) mailto:tismer@appliedbiometrics.com Applied Biometrics GmbH : Have a break! Take a ride on Python's Kaiserin-Augusta-Allee 101 : *Starship* http://starship.python.net 10553 Berlin : PGP key -> http://wwwkeys.pgp.net PGP Fingerprint E182 71C7 1A9D 66E9 9D15 D3CC D4D7 93E2 1FAE F6DF we're tired of banana software - shipped green, ripens at home
<P><A HREF="http://www.pns.cc/stackless/stackless.htm">Stackless Python 0.3</A> - a version of Python 1.5.2 that does not need space on the C stack. (12-Jul-99)