[pypy-dev] Re: Notes on compiler package
Christian Tismer
tismer at tismer.com
Thu Jan 23 19:06:23 CET 2003
Nathan Heagy wrote:
> The question I'd really like to ask, which I'll just throw out for
> now, is: Why would minimal python want to generate bytecode for the
> old interpreter?
>
>
> Is byte-code compatibility a goal of minimalPython? I haven't seen it
> mentioned anywhere but everyone seems to be working under that assumption.
This was an early consideration. We wanted to
stay as compatible as possible, especially in the bootstrap
phase. It would be nice to use CPython as cross compiler
to bytecode, which the new thing can execute then,
even before it is able to compile from alone.
But there is so much flux in the project right now,
that this requirement might become useless, I have
no idea yet.
> As far as alternatives, why don't we target the .net CLI?
.net at all would deserve an extra thread.
So let me answer it for anything different from .pyc code:
Python byte code is well known, there is an interpreter
called CPython, there is an almost complete compiler
in Python, there is Psyco which works right now with it,
Bytecodehacks, the dis module and much more.
There is more common knowledge about byte code in the
heads which are going to join than about any other
intermediate language, I guess.
If we want to let this sprint produce anything executable
which has to deal with an interpreter engine at all,
then we should not start from scratch.
Other engines can be discussed when we have something that
works.
ciao - chris
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