Author: Armin Rigo <ar...@tunes.org> Branch: extradoc Changeset: r5575:6854a11aa352 Date: 2015-12-20 15:17 +0100 http://bitbucket.org/pypy/extradoc/changeset/6854a11aa352/
Log: FOSDEM abstract diff --git a/talk/fosdem2016/abstract.txt b/talk/fosdem2016/abstract.txt new file mode 100644 --- /dev/null +++ b/talk/fosdem2016/abstract.txt @@ -0,0 +1,44 @@ +Abstract +-------- + +In this talk, we will see an intro and status of two projects: PyPy, an +alternative Python-in-Python implementation; and CFFI, an alternative to +using the standard C API to extend Python. These two projects are very +different, but CFFI is a possible solution to a problem that hits +notably PyPy --- the CPython C API. + +The CPython C API was great and contributed to the present-day success +of Python, together with tools built on top of it like Cython and SWIG. +I will argue that it may be time to look beyond it. + + +Full description +---------------- + +We will see an intro and status of these two projects (the speaker is +involved in both): + + PyPy: http://pypy.org/ + + CFFI: http://cffi.readthedocs.org/ + +PyPy is an alternative Python implementation. It features a JIT +compiler that gives important speed-ups over CPython, for almost any +program that runs for any amount of time (at least some seconds). + +One of the main issues with PyPy is its forever-alpha-status "cpyext" +module. It is the part that loads and executes CPython extension +modules --- and occasionally segfaults if the stars are not correctly +aligned. The C API is very large, exposes the most obscure +implementation details, and assumes a memory model (reference counting) +that is often different in non-CPython implementations of Python. Thus +"cpyext" is the best-effort solution available for PyPy, but is a hack. +(IronPython has a similar capability.) + +This was partly the motivation for developing CFFI: it is a minimal +layer that allows direct access to C from Python, with no fixed +intermediate C API. It is available for CPython and for PyPy and could +be ported to more implementations. It shares ideas from Cython, ctypes, +and LuaJIT's ffi, but the non-dependence on any fixed C API is a central +point. Some high-visibility projects like Cryptography have switched +to it. _______________________________________________ pypy-commit mailing list pypy-commit@python.org https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/pypy-commit
