Python is the most popular programming language but its great weakness is performance, although the developers of the language try to remedy it. Still, to run requires high-end hardware, often relies on graphics cards doesn’t run in the browser, like JavaScript, and has almost no history on mobile, as ZDnet recalls. Python is a programming language used by a large number of IT solutions companies around the world to create various websites as well as applications and software for clients and businesses.
For the past several years, Microsoft has contributed to faster Python. This is a project started by the creator of Python, Guido van Rossum, in 2021, and it must be remembered that Microsoft hired him as a distinguished engineer.
Now, Microsoft has hired a team of six engineers along with Van Rossum to take care of performance improvements via CPython. Remember that Mark Shannon, one of the main contributors to CPython (or Core Python), wrote in 2020 an implementation plan to speed up CPython five times.
What is Microsoft doing with Python?
Core Python is the reference implementation of Python on which other variants are based, such as Anaconda, focused on data science.
Now there is more detailed information on how the Redmond giant’s investments translate into profits for CPython, whose contributors are mostly volunteers, usually skilled engineers who have other jobs, though they will now be supported by Microsoft’s Python hires.
Microsoft highlights the work of six employees, who have helped improve the performance of Python 3.10 and 3.11, which, according to Microsoft, has resulted in a speed increase of between 10% and 60% in some areas of the language. Despite the information shared from Resmond, Microsoft seems cautious to avoid the perception that you have an agenda for Python.
One of these developers says that “joining the Faster CPython team did change my focus on performance” and as a result states that ” by simplifying the interpreter’s internal representation of the exceptions raised, reduced the time it takes to raise and catch an exception by about 10%. In another project, I had the compiler throw the code for the exception blocks in a separate area, so they don’t have to be skipped if no exception is raised.”
Van Rossum has detailed that “the six of us meet every Monday” and says that this is more than enough to talk about. In addition, this team of programmers has commented that “what we are doing is a risky thing. There has probably been a higher frequency of unintended consequences and of errors that have arisen because we are changing the way the kernel works. It is very important that the team supports the community to maintain quality.”