If you look at the PyPy project you'll see that it's possible with Python to spot that foo is always an integer within a certain scope, thereby allowing short-c

If you look at the PyPy project you'll see that it's possible with Python to spot that foo is always an integer within a certain scope, thereby allowing short-cuts when dealing with it. They're also using the excellent LLVM framework to JIT the Python byte-code. It's not replacing the CPython interpreter anytime soon, but it is doing interesting stuff. URL: http://codespeak.net/pypy/dist/pypy/doc/index.html http://codespeak.net/pypy/dist/pypy/doc/index.html LLVM is well worth a look, BTW. Now that Apple have seen its benefits and are providing a workforce it's coming along in leaps and bounds. URL: http://llvm.org/ http://llvm.org/