[OT] Compilable Python-like language?

[Richard James]

Ed Cogburn <edcogburn at hotpop.com> wrote in message news:<mailman.183.1079791608.742.python-list at python.org>...
> I'm just curious if such a beast exists out there.  I've googled around some 
> and read some programming language websites but I have yet to find a language 
> similar to Python that can be compiled to binary.  Have I been looking in the 
> wrong places?  I certainly can't be the only person to want a Pythonish 
> language that can be compiled.  Even a language that just uses Python's basic 
> syntax characteristics (no end-of-statement markers, use indentation to denote 
> code blocks, less verbose syntax overall, etc) without the advanced dynamic 
> and OO features would still be interesting to me (indeed, it would really have 
> to lose most of the dynamic characteristics in order to make it a compilable 
> language, which is why we don't have compile-to-binary Python, right?).  Is 
> there such a thing?

Ed, have a look at "The Great Win32 Computer Language Shootout":
http://dada.perl.it/shootout/

It benchmarks 51 different scripted and compiled languages to give you
a feel for relative perfomance:
http://dada.perl.it/shootout/craps.html

And you can look at the source code of 25 different benchmarks in each
of the 51 different languages!

Other languages not on the Shootout list:

Euphoria: If you want to spend a little money (free to try).
The full version generates C source code from Euphoria scripts that
can be compiled for either Windows or Linux!
http://www.rapideuphoria.com/

Also xBLite for Windows looks interesting (a modern BASIC with Windows
GUI):
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/xblite/

And Gui4Cli Windows Scripting language. 
http://www.gui4cli.com
You can easily add your own dlls via C compiler or call Python from it
or control other Windows or Dos programs with it.

-- R.J.