To run Python code as a Go compiled executable. This allows them to avoid the Python Global Interpreter Lock (which severely limits Python's scalability within a single process) and run the Python code using Go modules as if they were Python modules.
Really, unless you're Google or another Python shop interesting in moving to Go, you probably don't have a use for this.
So is it fair to say that this is just a way for them to give Python the performance characteristics of Go without having to actually rewrite into Go code?
Yes, more or less. Python is still dynamically typed, so there has to be some runtime overhead around that, but that's got to be insignificant compared to the advantages around getting away from the GIL.
As someone who doesn't use Go or Python: what is the use for this?
vplatt 303 points · Jan 2017
To run Python code as a Go compiled executable. This allows them to avoid the Python Global Interpreter Lock (which severely limits Python's scalability within a single process) and run the Python code using Go modules as if they were Python modules.
Really, unless you're Google or another Python shop interesting in moving to Go, you probably don't have a use for this.
phpdevster 2 points · Jan 2017
So is it fair to say that this is just a way for them to give Python the performance characteristics of Go without having to actually rewrite into Go code?
vplatt 2 points · Jan 2017
Yes, more or less. Python is still dynamically typed, so there has to be some runtime overhead around that, but that's got to be insignificant compared to the advantages around getting away from the GIL.