Python Compiler

[kbjradmin]

i know this is a very unpopular topic, but does anyone know of a python compiler that is worth the time of looking into?

[JKoltner]

There are relatively few "true" Python compilers out there ("true" in the sense that they take Python in and generate x86 [or whatever] code directly as the output). This is probably due to the design of Python, which generally supports much better approaches to solving the problems that compilers typically address. E.g., for performance, Python is more than happy to let you link to code written in C/C++/Assembly/etc. without much fuss.

What limitation are you seeing in Python that you'd like a compiler to address?

(As you're probably aware, Python code is always compiled down to a "byte code" -- these are the *.pyc files.)

[kbjradmin]

there isn't any one problem i'm trying to address, i simply want to be able to compile my python scripts into .exe files.

[JKoltner]

there isn't any one problem i'm trying to address, i simply want to be able to compile my python scripts into .exe files.

In that case, you can use programs such as py2exe (http://www.py2exe.org/), which essentially builds an executable "wrapper" around your Python code -- internally it's still the Python interpreter running your Python byte code, but people can run your program without needing the regular Python distribution installed.

There's are many commercial programs out there, distributed as .exe's, which use Python internally.

---Joel