Welcome to Cython!
==================

Cython is an optimising Python compiler that makes writing C extensions for
Python as easy as Python itself.

Cython translates Python code to C/C++ code, but additionally supports calling
C functions and declaring C types on variables and class attributes.
This allows broad to fine-grained manual tuning that lets the compiler
generate very efficient C code from Cython code.

This makes Cython the ideal language for wrapping external C libraries, and
for fast C modules that speed up the execution of Python code.

* Official website: https://cython.org/
* Documentation: https://docs.cython.org/
* Github repository: https://github.com/cython/cython
* Wiki: https://github.com/cython/cython/wiki

Cython has `more than 70 million downloads <https://pypistats.org/packages/cython>`_
per month on PyPI.  You can **support the Cython project** via
`Github Sponsors <https://github.com/users/scoder/sponsorship>`_ or
`Tidelift <https://tidelift.com/subscription/pkg/pypi-cython>`_.


Installation:
-------------

If you already have a C compiler, just run following command::

   pip install Cython

otherwise, see `the installation page <https://docs.cython.org/en/latest/src/quickstart/install.html>`_.


License:
--------

The original Pyrex program, which Cython is based on, was licensed "free of restrictions" (see below).
Cython itself is licensed under the permissive **Apache License**.

See `LICENSE.txt <https://github.com/cython/cython/blob/master/LICENSE.txt>`_.


Contributing:
-------------

Want to contribute to the Cython project?
Here is some `help to get you started <https://github.com/cython/cython/blob/master/docs/CONTRIBUTING.rst>`_.


Differences to other Python compilers
-------------------------------------

Started as a project in the early 2000s, Cython has outlived
`most other attempts <https://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonImplementations#Compilers>`_
at producing static compilers for the Python language.

Similar projects that have a relevance today include:

* `PyPy <https://www.pypy.org/>`_, a Python implementation with a JIT compiler.

  * Pros: JIT compilation with runtime optimisations, fully language compliant,
    good integration with external C/C++ code
  * Cons: non-CPython runtime, relatively large resource usage of the runtime,
    limited compatibility with CPython extensions, non-obvious performance results

* `Numba <http://numba.pydata.org/>`_, a Python extension that features a
  JIT compiler for a subset of the language, based on the LLVM compiler
  infrastructure (probably best known for its ``clang`` C compiler).
  It mostly targets numerical code that uses NumPy.

  * Pros: JIT compilation with runtime optimisations
  * Cons: limited language support, relatively large runtime dependency (LLVM),
    non-obvious performance results

* `Pythran <https://pythran.readthedocs.io/>`_, a static Python-to-C++
  extension compiler for a subset of the language, mostly targeted
  at numerical computation.  Pythran can be (and is probably best) used
  as an additional
  `backend for NumPy code <https://cython.readthedocs.io/en/latest/src/userguide/numpy_pythran.html>`_
  in Cython.

* `mypyc <https://mypyc.readthedocs.io/>`_, a static Python-to-C extension
  compiler, based on the `mypy <http://www.mypy-lang.org/>`_ static Python
  analyser.  Like Cython's
  `pure Python mode <https://cython.readthedocs.io/en/latest/src/tutorial/pure.html>`_,
  mypyc can make use of PEP-484 type annotations to optimise code for static types.

  * Pros: good support for language and PEP-484 typing, good type inference,
    reasonable performance gains
  * Cons: no support for low-level optimisations and typing,
    opinionated Python type interpretation, reduced Python compatibility
    and introspection after compilation

* `Nuitka <https://nuitka.net/>`_, a static Python-to-C extension compiler.

  * Pros: highly language compliant, reasonable performance gains,
    support for static application linking (similar to
    `cython_freeze <https://github.com/cython/cython/blob/master/bin/cython_freeze>`_
    but with the ability to bundle library dependencies into a self-contained
    executable)
  * Cons: no support for low-level optimisations and typing

In comparison to the above, Cython provides

* fast, efficient and highly compliant support for almost all
  Python language features, including dynamic features and introspection
* full runtime compatibility with all still-in-use and future versions
  of CPython
* "generate once, compile everywhere" C code generation that allows for
  reproducible performance results and testing
* C compile time adaptation to the target platform and Python version
* support for other C-API implementations, including PyPy and Pyston
* seamless integration with C/C++ code
* broad support for manual optimisation and tuning down to the C level
* a large user base with thousands of libraries, packages and tools
* more than two decades of bug fixing and static code optimisations


The following is from Pyrex:
------------------------------------------------------
Cython was originally based on `Pyrex <https://www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/~greg/python/Pyrex/>`_
by Greg Ewing, with the following written in the Pyrex readme document:

This is a development version of Pyrex, a language
for writing Python extension modules.

For more info, take a look at:

* Doc/About.html for a description of the language
* INSTALL.txt    for installation instructions
* USAGE.txt      for usage instructions
* Demos          for usage examples

Comments, suggestions, bug reports, etc. are most
welcome!

Copyright stuff: Pyrex is free of restrictions. You
may use, redistribute, modify and distribute modified
versions.

The latest version of Pyrex can be found `here <https://www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/~greg/python/Pyrex/>`_.

| Greg Ewing, Computer Science Dept
| University of Canterbury
| Christchurch, New Zealand

 A citizen of NewZealandCorp, a wholly-owned subsidiary of USA Inc.
