[Jython-dev] Greetings!

[Charles O. N. <cha...@su...>]

Hello Jythonistas! I'm writing to check on current Jython status and to 
see if there's any way I can lend a hand.

As you may know, Tom Enebo and I were hired by Sun recently to work on 
JRuby. I've also made it a personal goal to also help bring other 
dynamic languages up to speed on the JVM, and that certainly means 
Jython. Dynlangs are coming of age on the JVM, and Jython deserves 
attention as much as JRuby or any other language.

Then there's also the recent release of IronPython by Microsoft via Jim 
Hugunin, the original creator of Jython. IronPython has proven that 
Python can run even faster on a VM, so the logical next step would be to 
bring Jython up to speed as well. We certainly don't want the JVM's 
Python story to be lacking.

So then, to business...

Where does Jython stand today WRT Python compatibility, performance, 
maintenance level?

Is there an active dev team, or folks willing to jump back into active dev?

What would be the next major steps for Jython if we wanted to start 
moving it back toward Python compatibility and IronPython performance 
levels?

I know a bit about Jython's internal design, but I could use a 
walkthrough of the basics. I don't know that I'll have many spare 
development cycles until JRuby 1.0 is out (don't know when), but I'd 
like to do whatever I can to help Jython get some attention. Of course I 
love Ruby, but Python is in many ways better-established and better 
suited for certain kinds of development. It would be foolish to squander 
this renewed interest in dynlangs on only Ruby, since the "other guys" 
are obviously taking a broad focus on multiple dynlangs.

Please feel free to respond publicly or privately. I know we can get 
Jython going again and back in the public eye.

-- 
Charles Oliver Nutter, JRuby Core Developer
Blogging on Ruby and Java @ headius.blogspot.com
Help spec out Ruby today! @ www.headius.com/rubyspec
he...@he... -- cha...@su...