Convert Python program to C/C++ code?
is it possible to convert a Python program to C/C++?
I need to implement a couple of algorithms, and I'm not sure if the performance gap is big enough to justify all the pain I'd go through when doing it in C/C++ (which I'm not good at). I thought about writing one simple algorithm and benchmark it against such a converted solution. If that alone is significantly faster than the Python version, then I'll have no other choice than doing it in C/C++.
Solution 1:
If the C variant needs x hours less, then I'd invest that time in letting the algorithms run longer/again
"invest" isn't the right word here.
Build a working implementation in Python. You'll finish this long before you'd finish a C version.
Measure performance with the Python profiler. Fix any problems you find. Change data structures and algorithms as necessary to really do this properly. You'll finish this long before you finish the first version in C.
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If it's still too slow, manually translate the well-designed and carefully constructed Python into C.
Because of the way hindsight works, doing the second version from existing Python (with existing unit tests, and with existing profiling data) will still be faster than trying to do the C code from scratch.
This quote is important.
Thompson's Rule for First-Time Telescope Makers
It is faster to make a four-inch mirror and then a six-inch mirror than to make a six-inch mirror.Bill McKeenan
Wang Institute
Solution 2:
Yes. Look at Cython. It does just that: Converts Python to C for speedups.
Solution 3:
Shed Skin is "a (restricted) Python-to-C++ compiler".
Solution 4:
Just came across this new tool in hacker news.
From their page - "Nuitka is a good replacement for the Python interpreter and compiles every construct that CPython 2.6, 2.7, 3.2 and 3.3 offer. It translates the Python into a C++ program that then uses "libpython" to execute in the same way as CPython does, in a very compatible way."
Solution 5:
I know this is an older thread but I wanted to give what I think to be helpful information.
I personally use PyPy which is really easy to install using pip. I interchangeably use Python/PyPy interpreter, you don't need to change your code at all and I've found it to be roughly 40x faster than the standard python interpreter (Either Python 2x or 3x). I use pyCharm Community Edition to manage my code and I love it.
I like writing code in python as I think it lets you focus more on the task than the language, which is a huge plus for me. And if you need it to be even faster, you can always compile to a binary for Windows, Linux, or Mac (not straight forward but possible with other tools). From my experience, I get about 3.5x speedup over PyPy when compiling, meaning 140x faster than python. PyPy is available for Python 3x and 2x code and again if you use an IDE like PyCharm you can interchange between say PyPy, Cython, and Python very easily (takes a little of initial learning and setup though).
Some people may argue with me on this one, but I find PyPy to be faster than Cython. But they're both great choices though.
Edit: I'd like to make another quick note about compiling: when you compile, the resulting binary is much bigger than your python script as it builds all dependencies into it, etc. But then you get a few distinct benefits: speed!, now the app will work on any machine (depending on which OS you compiled for, if not all. lol) without Python or libraries, it also obfuscates your code and is technically 'production' ready (to a degree). Some compilers also generate C code, which I haven't really looked at or seen if it's useful or just gibberish. Good luck.
Hope that helps.