[pypy-dev] a faster Python not a primary goal of PyPy?

[Martijn Faassen]

holger krekel wrote:
[snip]
> PyPy is not primarily - at least not only - about making
> Python faster although many people like to view it this way :-) 

This correction is a bit confusing... It is not surprising that people 
view "a faster Python" as a primary goal of your project, as that's the 
message that's been spread repeatedly by you all over the years:

"The PyPy project aims at producing a flexible and fast Python 
implementation. The guiding idea is to translate a Python-level 
description of the Python language itself to lower level languages. 
Rumors have it that the secret goal is being faster-than-C which is 
nonsense, isn't it?"

and

"In the next step of the project, we will generate C code or machine 
code from the source of Pypy, thereby reducing the speed penalty.

Later in the project, we will introduce optimisation steps that should 
make Pypy run faster than CPython."

and

"Psyco is a Python extension module which can massively speed up the 
execution of any Python code.
...
The future of Psyco now lies in the PyPy project, which according to 
plan will provide a good base for a Python interpreter with better and 
well-integrated Psyco-like techniques as soon as 2006."

I certainly hope that your "not primarily - at least not only" doesn't 
indicate that the goal of making Python faster is slowly becoming less 
important to you all, as I'd very much like a faster Python, and more 
flexibility of implementation is, while of tremendous personal interest 
to me, not one of much business interest in the foreseeable future, 
which means it's unlikely I'll get to play with PyPy much unless it 
offers performance benefits.

I realize that of course that flexibility has always been a primary goal 
of PyPy as well; obviously speed isn't the *only* goal of the project, 
but the flexibility goal now dominates and a faster Python is indeed not 
of primary importance to the project, I would suggest you revise the 
previous statements, which make it rather likely people will get this 
wrong impression.

Regards,

Martijn