[pypy-dev] PyPy -- Lua

[Christian Tismer]

Hi all,

just by chance, I stumbled over a post from Gustavo
Niemeyer on the python list: "Python articles".

He mentioned his website, which an article
"- Why Lua was embedded in APT-RPM".
https://moin.conectiva.com.br/GustavoNiemeyer

Here that particular excerpt:
"""
Why Lua?

One might think I've used Lua just because I live in the same country as 
its core developers (Brazil), but that's not the case. Indeed, I've done 
a pretty intensive research about embeddable languages before choosing 
Lua. I was looking for a fast, and small language. When you have a 
library which has about 500kb, you can't embed a large interpreter to 
extend the functionality, otherwise you'd be extending the interpreter, 
not the library. One might think that the interpreter library would be 
in the system anyway, so that wouldn't be a real problem. Unfortunately, 
that doesn't apply to APT-RPM, since it is used in small systems, and in 
installer environments. The current Lua interpreter is still under 
100kb, and is very fast if compared to other interpreters. I really 
think the Lua interpreter has no current competitors in that specific area.
"""

How is this related to PyPy?

Well, you guessed it.

PyPy still has a particular branch of thought in it:
Minimal Python. That is, as one target of PyPy,
we should eventually be able to spit
out some very tiny embeddable interpreter, that
can compete with, say, Lua.

cheers - chris

-- 
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