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[Python-Dev] Should standard library modules optimize for CPython?

Sturla Molden sturla.molden at gmail.com
Tue Jun 3 17:13:11 CEST 2014 
Stefan Behnel <stefan_ml at behnel.de> wrote:

> Thus my proposal to compile the modules in CPython with Cython, rather than
> duplicating their code or making/keeping them CPython specific. I think
> reducing the urge to reimplement something in C is a good thing.

For algorithmic and numerical code, Numba has already proven that Python
can be JIT compiled comparable to -O2 in C.  For non-algorthmic code, the
speed determinants are usually outside Python (e.g. the network
connection). Numba is becoming what the "dead swallow" should have been.
The question is rather should the standard library use a JIT compiler like
Numba? Cython is great for writing C extensions while avoiding all the
details of the Python C API. But for speeding up algorithmic code, Numba is
easier to use.

Sturla
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