[OT] Python like lanugages [was Re: After C++, what with Python?]

[Tim Harig]

On 2011-01-18, Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python at pearwood.info> wrote:
> On Mon, 17 Jan 2011 19:41:54 +0000, Tim Harig wrote:
>
>> One of the arguments for Python has always made is that you can optimize
>> it by writing the most important parts in C.  Perhaps that is a crutch
>> that has held the communty back from seeking higher performance
>> solutions in the language itself.
>
> Are you aware of PyPy?

Yes I have heard of PyPy, RPython, and Cython.  If they were sufficient I
probably wouldn't have to look around.  These alternate Python projects
have made some small gains; but, they still have a long way to go.

> PyPy is now about double the speed of CPython for most things, and they 
> have set themselves the ambitious target of being faster than C.

Let me know when they reach that target.  When Java started there was hype
that the JIT would be able to run faster then native C because the JIT
could optimize at runtime based on the actual data that it encountered.
That never really panned out either.