Python As A Language

01:15 PM - 01:40 PM on August 15, 2015, Room 711

James Powell

Audience level:

intermediate

Description

What is (C)Python? What is it really? Is it just a scripting language or a glue language for connecting component or is it more? This talk investigates CPython internals in order to motivate a view of Python as a "system language."

Abstract

A coder has just become frantic, / The programme's behaviour is antic! / Yet the way to advance, / Takes only a glance, / Beyond superficial semantic(s).

This talk gives a deep dive into CPython internals as a means to motivate a particular conceptualisation of the language in an attempt to answer such question as: - what is Python, really? - what are Python's core semantics? - and how we knowledge of these semantics drive us to constructing better systems and better APIs?