Demystifying Python’s Internals - presented by Sebastiaan Zeeff

Sebastiaan Zeeff demonstrates how to navigate the CPython source code by implementing a custom pipe operator in Python.

EuroPython 2022 - Demystifying Python’s Internals: Diving into CPython by implementing a pipe operator - presented by Sebastiaan Zeeff [The Auditorium on 2022-07-15] Diving into the CPython source code can feel daunting. Whether you want to start contributing or just want to get a better understanding of Python by exploring its source code, it’s often difficult to know where to start or what you’re missing. In my talk, I will show you around the CPython source code by implementing a new operator, a pipe operator. While doing so, I will discuss core parts of the internals, such as Python’s grammar, its syntax trees, and the underlying logic that will perform the operation. By the end, you will have a good idea of the moving parts involved in core language features. I will also take you through the steps necessary to make it all work. I’ll show you how I obtained a copy of the source code, regenerated the parser and token files, and how I compiled my modified version of CPython. I will also write and run tests to help me implement my changes. This should give you a mental framework that helps you while diving into more comprehensive resources, like the excellent Python Developer’s Guide (devguide.python.org/). My talk is aimed at everyone who wants to explore CPython’s internals. You don’t have to be an expert in Python, although some affinity with Python helps with understanding the internals. I will also use C to implement some of the operator logic, but knowledge of C is by no means required. In short, if you’re interested in diving into the CPython source code, this talk is for you. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/