PythoC: A new way to generate C code from Python

https://www.infoworld.com/article/4101101/pythoc-a-new-way-to-generate-c-code-from-python.html

by pm2222 • 7 months ago

4 1 7 months ago

zahlman• 7 months ago

PythoC doesn’t yet have a mechanism for re-using compiled code when it’s called from Python, the way Cython does.
At first this seems like a pretty big limitation. But it’s actually the point: You can use PythoC as a code generation system for C programs that run independently, rather than C modules imported into Python.

I have a feeling this model isn't going to be very popular, and they'd be much better off with a way to reuse the compilation result.

One possibility is that it could integrate more closely with Python at runtime. For instance, a @cached decorator could compile modules once, ahead of time, and then re-use the compiled modules when they’re called from within Python, instead of being recompiled at each run.

Yeah, pretty much what I was thinking. The @compile-decorated function is usable from Python, so the necessary binding logic is already implemented; so surely the decorator could just check a cache to see if the compiled equivalent is already available.

It seems like a powerful and flexible idea overall, though. The toy examples are probably not doing a great job of showcasing what's possible this way.

PythoC: A new way to generate C code from Python

Related Stories