[pypy-dev] Pypy+cython

[Stefan Behnel]

Yaacov Finkelman, 17.10.2011 15:48:
> How hard would it be to get Pypy to import uncompiled cython files? If we
> could teach Pypy to ignore cython's additions to the language then the jit
> will provide the performance boost.

It's not as easy as dropping the syntax extensions, they actually serve a 
purpose. ;-)

Cython has a rather large and nifty type system. Basically, it includes 
everything from Python, everything from C and a couple of major things from 
C++, plus some special types that result from language features, such as 
the PEP3118 buffer support.

Mapping the language to PyPy directly would mean that PyPy would have to 
understand the type system as well, in order to know what the code is 
actually working on.

The only way I can see to support Cython code on top of PyPy without 
actually reimplementing the language is by mapping it to a simpler 
abstraction that mimics the type system to a certain extent. That's where 
the Python+ctypes backend approach came from that was started in a GSoC 
this year.

Stefan