CPython

Not to be confused with Cython.
CPython
Python logo and wordmark.svg
Developer(s) Python core developers and the Python community, supported by the Python Software Foundation
Stable release 3.5.0 /
13 September 2015 (2015-09-13)
2.7.10 /
23 May 2015 (2015-05-23)
Written in C
Platform 42 platforms; see § Supported platforms
Type Python Programming Language Interpreter
License Python Software Foundation License
Website www.python.org

CPython is the default, most widely used implementation of the Python programming language. It is written in C. In addition to CPython, there are other "production-quality" Python implementations: Jython, written in Java for the JVM, PyPy, written in RPython and translated into C, and IronPython, which is written in C# for the Common Language Infrastructure. There are also several experimental implementations.[1]

CPython is a source code interpreter. It has a foreign function interface with several languages including C, in which one must explicitly write bindings in a language other than Python.

Concurrency issues

A significant drawback to using CPython is the presence of a Global Interpreter Lock on each CPython interpreter process, which effectively disables concurrent Python threads within one process.[2] To be truly concurrent in multitasking environment, separate CPython interpreter processes have to be run, which makes establishing communication between them a difficult task, though the multiprocessing module mitigates this somewhat. A lot of discussion took place whether to remove the GIL from CPython, even after the rejection of the “free threading” patches on CPython from Greg Stein which effectively replaced GIL with fine-grained locking. The rejection was mainly based on the overhead the patch inflicted to execution of single process code.[3]

Supported platforms

Supported platforms include:[4]

Previously supported platforms

PEP 11 lists platforms which are not supported in CPython by Python Software Foundation. These platforms can still be supported by external ports. See below.

External ports

These are ports not integrated to Python Software Foundation's official version of CPython, with links to its main development site. Ports often include additional modules for platform-specific functionalities, like graphics and sound API for PSP and SMS and camera API for S60.

Version history

Version Release date Supported until
Old version, no longer supported: 2.2 2001-12-21[6] 2003-05-30[7]
Old version, no longer supported: 2.3 2003-07-29[8] 2008-03-11[9]
Old version, no longer supported: 2.4 2004-11-30[10] 2008-12-19[11]
Old version, no longer supported: 2.5 2006-09-19[12] 2011-05-26[13]
Old version, no longer supported: 2.6 2008-10-01[14] 2013-10-29[15]
Older version, yet still supported: 2.7 2010-07-03[16] 2020[17]
Old version, no longer supported: 3.0 2008-12-03[18] 2009-06-27[19]
Old version, no longer supported: 3.1 2009-06-27[20] 2014-06[21]
Older version, yet still supported: 3.2 2011-02-20[22] 2016-02[23]
Older version, yet still supported: 3.3 2012-09-29[24] 2017-09[25]
Older version, yet still supported: 3.4 2014-03-17[26] 2019-03[citation needed]
Current stable version: 3.5 2015-09-13[27] 2020-09[citation needed]
Future release: 3.6 Late 2016[28]
Legend:
Old version
Older version, still supported
Latest version
Latest preview version
Future release

References

  1. ^ Martelli, Alex (2006). Python in a Nutshell (2nd ed.). O'Reilly. pp. 5–7. ISBN 978-0-596-10046-9. 
  2. ^ "Initialization, Finalization, and Threads — Python v2.7.6 documentation". Docs.python.org. Retrieved 2015-08-08. 
  3. ^ "Library and Extension FAQ". Python v3.3.0 documentation. Python Software Foundation. "Can't we get rid of the Global Interpreter Lock?". Archived from the original on March 4, 2013. 
  4. ^ "PythonImplementations". Retrieved 19 July 2012. 
  5. ^ "Irix still supported?". 
  6. ^ "Python 2.2". Python.org. Retrieved 2014-02-06. 
  7. ^ "Python 2.2.3". Python.org. Retrieved 2014-02-06. 
  8. ^ "Python 2.3". Python.org. 2003-07-29. Retrieved 2014-02-06. 
  9. ^ "Python 2.3.7 Release". Python.org. 2008-03-11. Retrieved 2014-02-06. 
  10. ^ "Python 2.4". Python.org. 2004-11-30. Retrieved 2014-02-06. 
  11. ^ "Python 2.4.6 Release". Python.org. 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2014-02-06. 
  12. ^ "Python 2.5 Release". Python.org. 2006-09-19. Retrieved 2014-02-06. 
  13. ^ "Python 2.5.6". Python.org. 2011-05-26. Retrieved 2014-02-06. 
  14. ^ "Python 2.6 Release". Python.org. 2008-10-01. Retrieved 2014-02-06. 
  15. ^ "Python 2.6.9 Release". Python.org. 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2014-02-06. 
  16. ^ "Python 2.7 Release". Python.org. 2010-07-03. Retrieved 2014-02-06. 
  17. ^ "PEP 373 - Python 2.7 Release Schedule". Python.org. Retrieved 2014-02-06. 
  18. ^ "Python 3.0 Release". Python.org. 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2014-02-06. 
  19. ^ "Python 3.0.1 Release". Python.org. 2009-02-13. Retrieved 2014-02-06. 
  20. ^ "Python 3.1 Release". Python.org. 2009-06-27. Retrieved 2014-02-06. 
  21. ^ "PEP 375 - Python 3.1 Release Schedule". Python.org. Retrieved 2014-02-06. 
  22. ^ "Python 3.2 Release". Python.org. 2011-02-20. Retrieved 2014-02-06. 
  23. ^ "PEP 392 - Python 3.2 Release Schedule". Python.org. Retrieved 2014-02-06. 
  24. ^ "Python 3.3.0 Release". Python.org. 2012-09-29. Retrieved 2014-02-06. 
  25. ^ "PEP 398 - Python 3.3 Release Schedule". Python.org. Retrieved 2014-02-06. 
  26. ^ "Python 3.4.0 Release". Python.org. Retrieved 2014-04-26. 
  27. ^ "Python 3.5.0 Release". Python.org. Retrieved 2015-09-16. 
  28. ^ "Python 3.6 Release Schedule". Python.org. Retrieved 2015-09-16.