Hynek SchlawackMar 8

This is such an end of an era that fresh Python programmers can’t even fathom.

PyPy used to be our hope! No major Python conference that didn’t suggest that they’re gonna fix the GIL and make time go backwards. And yeah, it’s really fast! I suspect the money-backed focus on performance in CPython combined with the compat paper cuts PyPy always came with has sealed its fate. I‘ve watched its decline over the years so I’m not surprised, but damn.

https://github.com/numpy/numpy/issues/30416

Show threadGina Peter BanyardMar 8
@hynek I don't much about it, but this seems to be a similar story to PHP and Hacklang? In that when the "reference" implementation stops "sucking" (lack of a better word rn) people go back to it because the ecosystem is larger and less constrained.
Show threadHynek SchlawackMar 8
@Girgias the reasons might be the similar, but it’s probably different dynamics given that Hack is a Meta project they presumably still use? While they definitely have their users, my impression is that it was never even close to maintstream & mostly about the promises of an even brighter future b/c it was run by some of the smartest ppl alive. One of my memories is also that it definitely was an impediment to Python 3 adoption because they were 2-only for a long time so that played a role too
Show threadGina Peter BanyardMar 8
@hynek as far as I know Meta and Slack still use Hack yeah (although I've heard rumours that Meta is looking at moving some smaller projects back to PHP). It being an impediment to Python 3 sucks :/ Because yeah Hack was the thing that pushed PHP forward whereas what you're saying is that this might have been the case initially for PyPy it ended up being a hindrance?
Show threadHynek Schlawack
@Girgias yeah it definitely was. unlike Hack, it’s ambition wasn’t to improve Python – that was Python 3. Its ambition has always been to be a much faster drop-in replacement for CPython. At the same time they tackled adjacent performance and concurrency-related problems with mixed results. But their JIT is amazing and there’s a lot of legacy they’ll leave – including pytest.
Mar 8 at 6:23pmMona for iPad
Show threadEric MatthesMar 9
@hynek @Girgias I had no idea pytest came out of PyPy, and I also had no idea how long PyPy has been around!