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A tail calling interpreter for Python (already landed in CPython)

(blog.reverberate.org)
122 points phsilva | 1 comments | 17 Feb 25 07:12 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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thunkingdeep ◴[20 Feb 25 03:19 UTC] No.43110710[source]▶
This does NOT mean Python will get Tail Call Optimization, as Guido cannot be shown The Light, and has decided.
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rpcope1 ◴[20 Feb 25 03:37 UTC] No.43110815[source]▶
That's probably one of the more frustrating things about Python. Each release it gets all sorts of questionable new syntax (including the very strange pattern matching "feature" that kind of sucks compared to something like Erlang or Scala), but we never get real useful quality of life improvements for basic functional programming like TCO or multi line lambdas
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throwaway81523 ◴[20 Feb 25 03:47 UTC] No.43110873[source]▶
Python has always been unashamedly imperative, with some functional features entering by slipping through the cracks. The pattern matching thing seemed ok to me when I tried it, but I haven't used it except briefly, since I'm still mostly on Python 3.9. Interestingly, Python has been losing users to Rust. I don't entirely understand that, other than everyone saying how Rust's tooling is so much better.
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flakes ◴[20 Feb 25 06:35 UTC] No.43111772[source]▶
> Python has been losing users to Rust. I don't entirely understand that, other than everyone saying how Rust's tooling is so much better.

Not to rust, but to Go and C++ for myself. The biggest motivating factor is deployment ease. It is so difficult to offer a nice client install process when large virtual environments are involved. Static executables solve so many painpoints for me in this arena. Rust would probably shine here as well.

If its for some internal bespoke process, I do enjoy using Python. For tooling shipped to client environments, I now tend to steer clear of it.

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1. sieve ◴[20 Feb 25 08:42 UTC] No.43112485[source]▶
> For tooling shipped to client environments, I now tend to steer clear of it.

A guy on r/WritingWithAI is building a new writing assistant tool using python and pyQt. He is not a SE by trade. Even so, the installation instructions are:

- Install Python from the Windows app store

- Windows + R -> cmd -> pip install ...

- Then run python main.py

This is fine for technical people. Not regular folks.

For most people, these incantations to be typed as-is in a black window mean nothing and it is a terrible way of delivering a piece of software to the end-user.