Programming languages with python-like syntax but native code generation

Question

Can anyone point to programming language which has python-like syntax, but from the very beginning was designed to generate native code? I'm aware of Boo only, but it uses .net, not native code generation. Well, if nothing else than python-like languages which generate .net/java bytecode are fine too.

Answer 1

Cython might do -- the C code it generates is for Python extensions, but the whole thing can be packaged up and you'll be running native code throughout (after the 'import';-).

Answer 2

If you are happy with something that compiles down to Java bytecode you could have a look at Jython. Quoting from their FAQ:

JPython is an implementation of the Python programming language which is designed to run on the Java(tm) Platform. It consists of a compiler to compile Python source code down to Java bytecodes which can run directly on a JVM, a set of support libraries which are used by the compiled Java bytecodes, and extra support to make it trivial to use Java packages from within JPython.

I've not actually used it yet but am considering it on some projects where I have to integrate with existing an Java codebase.

HTH

Answer 3

You can also investigate IronPython - a python inplementation on the .NET framework

Answer 4

I must admit that I don't quite understand your question, for two reasons:

1. You are asking for a language with native code generation, but native code generation has nothing to do with the language, it is a trait of the implementation. Every language can have an implementation with native code generation. Several Python implementations have native code generation. There are C compilers that compile to JVM bytecode, CIL bytecode or even ECMAScript sourcecode. There are even C interpreters. There are also compilers that compile Java sourcecode or JVM bytecode to native code.

2. Why do you care about the syntax? It is probably the least important factor about choosing a programming language.

Anyway, Nimrod is a programming language which has an implementation which supports native code generation (or more precisely an implementation which supports C source code generation) and whose syntax is a hybrid between Wirthian style (by the looks of it the most important influences are Oberon and Delphi) and Python.

However, the fact that it has Pythonic syntax isn't going to help you at all if you don't like European style language design or Wirthian style OOP.

Answer 5

Also found today Delight applying Python syntax on a D back-end.

And Converge too.

Answer 6

PyPy is a project to re-implement Python in Python. One of it's goals is to allow the use of multiple back-ends, including C. So you can take a pure Python program, convert it to C and compile it to native code. It is still a work in progress, so probably not suitable for production code.

Answer 7

Genie which is part of the gnome project: http://live.gnome.org/Genie

I think it's exactly what you're looking for.

Answer 8

shedskin compiles Python to C++

From shedskin project page

Shed Skin is an experimental compiler, that can translate pure, but implicitly statically typed Python programs into optimized C++. It can generate stand-alone programs or extension modules that can be imported and used in larger Python programs.

Answer 9

Check out Cobra

It is strongly influenced by Python, C#, Eiffel, Objective-C and other programming languages. It supports both static and dynamic typing. It has first class support for unit tests and contracts. Cobra provides both rapid development and performance in the same language.

Answer 10

You can find all of the previously mentioned languages, plus some more, here: http://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonImplementations