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Python interpreter
What is an implementation of a programming language?
An implementation of Python:
means a program or environment which provides support for the execution of programs written in the Python language
As Python is interpreted, any implementation will perforce involve an interpreting language.
There are three main implementations:
- CPython
- The default implementation, written in C
- Jython
- Java
- PyPy
- A subset of Python which is faster due to machine code compilation
CPython
In the standard implementation, the language which interprets Python code is C.
When Python runs in this implementation, code written in C converts it to bytecode (so-called because each instruction is 8-bits long). This is a lower-level transliteration of Python is not meant to be understood by the CPU (since it is not binary) but rather to be run in the Python virtual machine which is equipped to understand bytecode. The Python Virtual Machine is therefore also known as "bytecode interpreter" or the CPython VM. The VM then converts bytecode into machine-executable code.
The fact that Python does not compile to binary means that it can run on a greater variety of hardwares however it is slower than a language that compiles to machine code. PyPy is a solution for this because it is both interpreted and compiled to optimised machine code at run time.
// TODO:
- Notes on Jython and PyPy
- What are the benefits of using one over the other? e.g. how you write C modules that are understood by Python.