[Cython] Lisp inspired transforms

[Martin C. Martin]

Robert Bradshaw wrote:
> 
> Thanks. This looks very interesting. Also, I much prefer this type of 
> "macro" to the text-substitution C-style macros that have occasionally 
> been suggested.

Glad you like it.  It's certainly a lot cleaner.

> One thought that kept going through my head as I was reading this, 
> however, is that one of the current defects (in my mind) is its 
> inconsistency with actual Python, and the associated learning curve to 
> read and write Python. Some of this inconsistency (e.g. (minimal) static 
> typing information) is necessary to achieve the kind of speedups we 
> need, but I think the focus should be on features that narrow the gap 
> between Cython and Python, not those that widen it.
 >
 > On the other hand, features like the one above can be very useful, and
 > it'd be a shame to deny their availability to "power users" (though it
 > would take away one thing that I really like about Cython--almost any
 > Python programmer can at least read a Cython function without any
 > additional knowledge).

Yes, this certainly adds a whole new dimension to Cython that's not in 
Python.

Perhaps this is a time to reflect on the goals that Cython has had up to 
now, and whether to expand them.  Cython and Pyrex started with the goal 
of making it easy to wrap existing C/C++ code as Python extensions, but 
if you add the ability to declare that a variable has a Python type, you 
get a language where you can code Python when you need to, but then when 
you need speed, sprinkle a few type declarations around and get code and 
speed similar to C.

Is it worth widening the gap a little to provide a useful language in 
its own right?  The gap is still much, much smaller than that between 
C++ and C, for example.

Best,
Martin