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Concept
PyPy
Summary
PyPy ('paɪpaɪ) is an implementation of the Python programming language. PyPy often runs faster than the standard implementation CPython because PyPy uses a just-in-time compiler. Most Python code runs well on PyPy except for code that depends on CPython extensions, which either does not work or incurs some overhead when run in PyPy. Internally, PyPy uses a technique known as meta-tracing, which transforms an interpreter into a tracing just-in-time compiler. Since interpreters are usually easier to write than compilers, but run slower, this technique can make it easier to produce efficient implementations of programming languages. PyPy's meta-tracing toolchain is called RPython.
PyPy does not have full compatibility with more recent versions of the CPython ecosystem. While it claims compatibility with Python 2.7, 3.7, 3.8 and 3.9 ("a drop-in replacement for CPython"), it loses out on newer features and syntax in Python 3.10, such as syntax for pattern matching.
PyPy aims to provide a common translation and support framework for producing implementations of dynamic languages, emphasizing a clean separation between language specification and implementation aspects. It also aims to provide a compliant, flexible and fast implementation of the Python programming language using the above framework to enable new advanced features without having to encode low-level details into it.
The PyPy interpreter itself is written in a restricted subset of Python called RPython (Restricted Python). RPython puts some constraints on the Python language such that a variable's type can be inferred at compile time.
The PyPy project has developed a toolchain that analyzes RPython code and translates it into a form of byte code, which can be lowered into C. There used to be other backends in addition to C: Java, C#, and Javascript, but those suffered from bitrot and have been removed. Thus, the recursive logo of PyPy is a snake swallowing itself since the RPython is translated by a Python interpreter.
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