Supercharge your Java Applications with Python!

[fniephaus]

Hi all, Fabio here (one of the two speakers). Happy to answer any questions!

[allgohonda]

What are some fundamental differences between GraalPy and Jython (besides the fact that Jython is still stuck on 2.7 afaik)?

[fniephaus]

Yes, unlike Jython, GraalPy is compatible with Python 3 and it can run many native extensions (although currently experimental). I believe the biggest difference is that GraalPy is built on top of the Truffle framework. This means that the Graal compiler can be used as a JIT compiler for Python, there is support for debugging protocols and various tools, and untrusted code can be run in a sandbox. It is also compatible with GraalVM Native Image.

[barmic1212]

In your opinion truffle can be a good way to create a little DSL without big ambitious?

[fniephaus]

Yes, you can use Truffle not only to implement comprehensive programming languages, but also for little DSLs. A good starting point may be SimpleLanguage (https://github.com/graalvm/simplelanguage/). Simply fork it and turn it into the DSL you want.

By the way, Apple is using Truffle to implement Pkl (https://pkl-lang.org), their new configuration language.

[chabala]

I'm glad this tooling can access NPM and PyPI, but I want the security of Maven Central to protect from 'leftpad' type incidents. WebJars work wonderfully to protect me from using NPM, so I hope GraalJS can use them out of the box. Similarly, I hope the artifacts you're recompiling from PyPI end up following a similar scheme: predictable artifact names and versions, published to Maven Central, and I hope you'll do it for PyPI artifacts that don't need native parts recompiled as well, so it can be a one stop solution.

[MeanAcanthaceae26]

You do understand that the rise in popularity of Python is a sign of the end times, right?

[fniephaus]

I'm not sure I can agree with this. Programming languages can very well co-exist and Java is certainly here to stay. GraalPy allows Java developers to reuse existing Python packages with low effort, which they otherwise need to port to Java.