Re: [Visualpython-users] Future = (Vpython + Glowscript) | Glowscript | ???

[John Z. <joh...@wa...>]

Let me just second that pypy is definitely worth looking at. For programs that have one main loop with many independent (random?) calculations, pypy can provide much more speedup. I've gotten over 100 fold speedup in some cases (yes that's 100 fold, not 100%). Pypy makes it possible to do things like real-time image manipulation or ray-tracing in pure Python code. At least on Linux (see below).

Since pypy is compatible with ctypes, it would be possible to combine it with something like pyglet for a cross-platform, pure Python, VPython+ that relies on a modern graphics card for the heavy lifting on the graphics side. However, pypy does have a couple downsides:

1) it's Python 2.7, not 3.x
2) I'm not sure what the status of the JIT compiler is for non-linux platforms. I think they are working on this. 
3) Numpy support is experimental/in-development at this point.

If I had the time, which I don't, I would definitely be interested in working on a pure Python reimplementation of VPython along these lines.

John Zelle, PhD
Professor of Computer Science
Wartburg College


________________________________________
From: C Anthony Risinger [an...@xt...]
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2012 12:56 PM
To: Bru...@nc...
Cc: vis...@li...
Subject: Re: [Visualpython-users] Future = (Vpython + Glowscript) | Glowscript | ???

On Sat, Jun 9, 2012 at 10:14 AM, Bruce Sherwood <Bru...@nc...> wrote:
> Very interesting. There is much in your message about which I have no
> knowledge and no opinion. However, I can make some comments about the
> Big Picture.
>
> For a variety of reasons, I am personally committed to the further
> development and maintenance of both VPython and GlowScript.

ok, good news :-)

> [...]
>
> As I've said, I'm dreaming of constructing a VPython+ that would
> require a modern graphics card. If possible, I'd like to build it on
> top of one of the newer Python frameworks that work cross-platform, in
> particular to solve the menacing problem that Carbon on the Mac is not
> available for 64-bit Python.

out of curiosity, which frameworks are you considering/referencing?

> [...]
>
> I wasn't aware of the pypy.org project, and certainly running 5 times
> faster than CPython is important. What is "co", which you mention?

oh sorry, i just meant "and company", ie. pypy and all it's
dependencies, along with whatever other considerations are needed.
pypy is pretty incredible, and IMO, is the future of Python, and
possible other dynamic langs like Ruby et al.

thanks for your comments Bruce; i will note the vitality of both
projects during my demonstration.

--

C Anthony

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