There is a flash of light! Your PYTHON has evolved into ...

This year has been marked, for me, by many many discussions of Python versions. Finally, though, I’ve acquiesced, I’ve seen the light, and I’m doing what many have suggested. I’m taking the first steps: I’m changing my default Python.

Yes indeed, my global python is now something different:

$ python Python 2.7 . 6 ( 32 f35069a16d, Jun 06 2014 , 20 : 12 : 47 ) [PyPy 2.3 . 1 with GCC 4.2 . 1 Compatible Apple LLVM 5.0 (clang - 500.2 . 79 )] on darwin Type "help" , "copyright" , "credits" or "license" for more information . >>>>

Yup, my default python is now PyPy.

Why?

Because I believe PyPy is the future, and I want to stamp out every single possible bug and annoyance a person might hit, and the best way to do that is to subject myself to them constantly. If startup performance is too slow, you know for damned sure I’ll get pissed off and try to fix it.

I’m only one day into this, but thus far: I’ve found one bug in Mercurial’s setup.py , and lots of my random scripts run faster. But this shouldn’t be just me! In today’s revolutionary spirit, I want to encourage you too to cast off the shackles of slow Python, and embrace the possibility of performance without compromises!

If you run into any issues at all: packages that won’t install, things that are too slow, or take too much memory. You can email me personally. I’m committed to making this the most fantastic Python experience you could ever have.

Technical details

I changed by default Python, or OS X, using pyenv:

$ brew install pyenv $ # Muck with my fish config $ pyenv install pypy-2.3.1 $ pyenv global pypy-2.3.1 $ pip install a nice list of utilities I use

Tada.