Python, C++, Java, Smalltalk, Eiffel,...

David Ascher DavidA at ActiveState.com
Fri Jul 20 15:23:10 EDT 2001


Andrew Kuchling wrote:

> I'm a bit doubtful that the CLR will really be suited for languages
> other than C# or VB.  Sure, with some hammering you can compile Python
> to CLR, just as you can compile it to Java bytecodes, but there seems
> to be a sizable performance hit, judging by a message from David
> Ascher archived at
> http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Mail/Message/638072.  

I think you're being overly pessimistic.  As I said in that post,
getting Python to work well on the CLR requires changes either to the
CLR or to Python (or a lot of work).  None of those are impossible,
though.  I'm still hopeful that someone will solve some of the
optimization problems for Python using type analysis.

Also, Jython shows that even with a performance hit, Python on a VM is a
very useful thing.  So, Python on the CLR could still be useful, even if
it's not as fast as native-python.  

> I suspect .NET's multilanguage will turn out to be a feature used more as a
> selling point than in practical use.  

In the short term, probably.  Longer term, I think it's up to us, the
various language communities, to see how we can rise to the challenge.
=)

-- David Ascher
   ActiveState

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