\chapter*{Preface}
\addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{Preface}

\textbf{Python} is a programming language that has became more and
more popular over the years. It is a multi-paradigm language. This
means that, rather than forcing coders to adopt one particular style
of coding, it permits several. Object orientation, structured
programming, functional programming, and aspect-oriented programming
are all supported. 

Python is \textbf{dynamically type-checked} and uses garbage
collection for memory management. An important feature of Python is
dynamic name resolution, which binds method and variable names during
program execution.

Python is sometimes referred to as a \textbf{scripting language}. In
practice, it is used as a dynamic programming language for both
application development and occasional scripting.

The programming language itself is specified by the \emph{Python
  Reference Manual} \cite{python-ref}. There are many implementation
of this specifications: the most widely used is known as
\emph{Classical Python} (CPython) and can be considered as the
reference implementation of the language.

Moreover, there is a bunch of other alternative implementations, each
one with its own features: as examples we might cite \emph{Jython}
\cite{jython}, which runs on top of the \emph{Java Virtual Machine},
\emph{IronPython} \cite{ironpython}, which integrates in the
\emph{.NET Framework} and \emph{Python for Series 60}
\cite{python-s60}, which runs on \emph{Series 60} mobile phones.

Finally, the \pypy\ project \cite{pypy} aims at writing a Python
implementation in Python itself. The purpose of this thesis is to
begin extending \pypy\ in order to obtain a \textbf{Python interpreter
  that runs in the .NET Framework}. We should not consider this
project as a mere clone of \emph{IronPython}: although the two
projects shares some of the goals, future directions of this project
may go beyond \emph{IronPython} features, because it can be extended
and reused in many different ways, as we will see in the last chapter.