Hi,
Has anyone done any serious work on producing a subset of python's
language definition that would suit it to a tiny microcontroller
environment?
In its full form, python is a resource hog. If a microcontroller
implementation honoured the 'everything is an object' philosophy, the
code would spend 80% of the time in memory allocation/deallocation
routines, taking tens or hundreds of times longer for even the simplest
tasks.
One kludge I've come up with towards a micro-python is the use of 'magic
pseudo-functions' that lock in specific types and behaviour, eg:
- in the mainline, outside of any functions:
- x = int16(45)
- creates a signed 16-bit global int called x, initialises it
to 45
- y = const32(0x3342)
- creates a 32-bit constant called y, initialises it to 0x3342,
any attempt to assign to it raises an exception at compile
time
- z = int8()
- creates an uninitialised global byte var called z
- within a function:
- x = uint16(4)
- creates an unsigned 16-bit int on the return stack frame,
called x, initialised to 4
Another kludge is to legislate that 'None' is a 16-bit int with value of
zero, such that:
- return
- return None
- return 0
all do the same thing
Is anyone working along similar lines?
Is it even possible to devise a tiny python subset that has at least
some of python's advantages, but at the same time can be compiled to
low-footprint resource-lean code?
And could such a mini-python be worth using over C, Forth, etc?
Your thoughts?
--
Cheers
EB
--
One who is not a conservative by age 20 has no brain.
One who is not a liberal by age 40 has no heart.
--
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