Why is python not written in C++ ?

[Martin v. Loewis]

Am 10.08.2010 09:06, schrieb Ulrich Eckhardt:
> Carl Banks wrote:
>> I highly doubt the Python source would build with a C++ compiler.
> 
> As Christian showed, it doesn't. However, look around the sources a bit.
> There are lots of places where e.g. the returnvalue of malloc() (or,
> rather, the macro that resolves to something like it) is explicitly
> type-cast to the according pointer type. When asked on the developers'
> list, it was said that this was intended for compatibility with C++, e.g.
> in cases where people want to embed Python into their C++ projects. Of
> course, this contradicts Christian's statement that C++ compatibility
> wasn't considered useful enough.

It doesn't contradict at all. In order to embed Python into a C++
application, it is sufficient if the Python header files can be compiled
with a C++ compiler, and linking to the C function works
properly - which is indeed the case.

People integrate Python with C++ quite often, both for embedding it
into C++, and for writing extension modules in C++.

Regards,
Martin