HotPy (2) - A High Performance Binary-Compatible Virtual Machine for Python

A session at EuroPython 2012

HotPy (2) is a new interpreter for Python. It is binary compatible with CPython and reuses CPython’s object and module implementations. The core interpreter is new and uses many of the techniques developed during the 1990s and 2000s plus a technique developed during my PhD.

Once the first stage of the optimisation chain is completed (May or June), HotPy is expected to be between 2 and 3 times as fast as CPython. It will probably never be as fast as PyPy, but it might be possible to get close.

During the talk I will explain how it works (with lots of pictures), and how it compares to CPython and PyPy. I will also discuss whether the techniques used in HotPy would be suitable for Jython and IronPython.

About the speaker

This person is speaking at this event.

Mark Shannon

Computer Scientist, www.hotpy.org

I am a computer scientist, interested in virtual machines for
dynamic languages. I am particularly interested in how sophisticated optimizations,
such as those used in PyPy, can be supported without large budgets
and many man years of effort.I have been using Python regularly for over six years,
starting with writing a few simple scripts,
and working my way up to compiler generators.