Re: Python people strive to embrace LuaJIT

[Stefan Behnel <stefan_ml@...>]

steve donovan, 03.09.2010 11:41:
> Python developers should also be aware of projects like Lunatic
> Python, which provides two-way interoperability between the languages.

I (obiously) know about that project. Lupa also targets two-way 
interoperability but restricts itself to one-way embedding. It mostly tries 
to make Lua feel good in Python.


> Here is a semi-serious suggestion, which I'm probably going to get
> flamed for anyway.  Make a Python dialect and compile it to Lua 5.1
> bytecodes, in such a way that the result is JIT-able.

There are a couple of JIT compilers in the Python world these days: PyPy 
and Unladen Swallow, as well as the Python implementations for .NET 
(IronPython) and the JVM (Jython). I could imagine that Lua as a PyPy 
backend might provide a way to reimplement Python in Lua(JIT), but I 
somehow doubt that it would be worth the effort.


> There are going to be semantic mismatches, which is why I say 'dialect';
> it's probably more correct to say 'a language with Python syntax'

If you go that route, I think Shedskin is the current top-of-the-list. It 
compiles static, Python-like code to impressively fast C++ code.


> Pythonistas are very attached to whitespace as syntax ;)

Readability counts. :)


> As for batteries, Penlight started as an attempt to clone some
> convenient Python libraries for Lua programmers.

Interesting. I think an effort to provide something like an "extended 
standard library" that people just grab instead of writing their own is a 
good idea. Now, all that's missing is to get those batteries *included*. ;)

Stefan