I'm a self-taught dev focused on websites and Python development.
My friends call me the "Data Genie".
When I get bored, I find tech to read about, write about and build things with.
Hi, here is my input on the topic, from my python background.
Based on this article, Python has both compiled and interpreted parts to it. But the compiled part is minor I think and its still useful to think of Python and interpreted
Yes Python does compile to .pyc files. They are not used immediately - they are only used when running the application a second time and if the modified date of the .py and .pyc file is the same then it does not recompile the files. So performance is a bit faster on repeat runs. (If you view your .pyc file it will look garbled to you but docstrings actually get preserved as plain text, for interest)
These files are only created when doing module imports (python - m foo or imports within a script) and not when running a script directly (python foo.py). You can also give the python command a flag to disable creating .pyc files.
Yes those byte code .pyc files are compiled files but they still get sent to the python interpreter as machine code. So .pyc files only get us partway there.
Using .pyc files improves performance a bit. But those compiled files will not give you the performance of true compiled languages like C or C++ or Rust.
This is a complex topic. I always thought Java must be compiled because it won't compile if you have bad types, you get compiled files out and you get performance close to C. But the thing is that Java creates byte code when is then interpreted by the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) to machine code and run.
I don't know about Java anymore - is it both compile and interpreted? Python compiled step is optional and it doesnt have compile time checks so I'd say Python is interpreted. But I don't know how the actual interpreter works to discuss further
I'm a self-taught dev focused on websites and Python development.
My friends call me the "Data Genie".
When I get bored, I find tech to read about, write about and build things with.
It is a similar principle to TypeScript adding safety to JS code types. Except here we don't convert
.ts to .js files we just stay on .py files and types get ignored at runtime of your application (ie when MyPy is done running)
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Hi, here is my input on the topic, from my python background.
Based on this article, Python has both compiled and interpreted parts to it. But the compiled part is minor I think and its still useful to think of Python and interpreted
geeksforgeeks.org/python-compiled-...
Yes Python does compile to
.pycfiles. They are not used immediately - they are only used when running the application a second time and if the modified date of the .py and .pyc file is the same then it does not recompile the files. So performance is a bit faster on repeat runs. (If you view your .pyc file it will look garbled to you but docstrings actually get preserved as plain text, for interest)These files are only created when doing module imports (
python - m fooor imports within a script) and not when running a script directly (python foo.py). You can also give thepythoncommand a flag to disable creating .pyc files.Yes those byte code .pyc files are compiled files but they still get sent to the python interpreter as machine code. So .pyc files only get us partway there.
Using .pyc files improves performance a bit. But those compiled files will not give you the performance of true compiled languages like C or C++ or Rust.
This is a complex topic. I always thought Java must be compiled because it won't compile if you have bad types, you get compiled files out and you get performance close to C. But the thing is that Java creates byte code when is then interpreted by the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) to machine code and run.
This article covers Java Interpreter Compiler. Note the diagram from high level to byte code to machine code
codespeedy.com/why-java-is-called-...
I don't know about Java anymore - is it both compile and interpreted? Python compiled step is optional and it doesnt have compile time checks so I'd say Python is interpreted. But I don't know how the actual interpreter works to discuss further
Very thorough explanation! Thanks!
Thanks! I learned something new. 😀
Oh and if you want something like compile time type checks for python, to match C and Java, have a look at Mypy.
From python 3.5 you can use optional type annotations in code and use the
mypycommand to validate them.michaelcurrin.github.io/code-cookb...
It is a similar principle to TypeScript adding safety to JS code types. Except here we don't convert
.ts to .js files we just stay on .py files and types get ignored at runtime of your application (ie when MyPy is done running)