nuitka/nuitka

Nuitka is a compiler for Python, written in Python itself. Most Python code is normally run by an interpreter that reads the script line by line, but Nuitka takes a different route. You feed it a Python program or library and it produces a regular executable file, or an extension module, that runs the same code in compiled form. The README claims compatibility with every Python construct in versions 2.6, 2.7, and 3.4 through 3.14, so existing programs are meant to keep working without changes. Under the hood it translates the Python modules into C-level code, then links them against libpython and some static C support files that ship with the project. The result executes the way the standard CPython interpreter would, but compiled and packaged. The README says optimisation work is aimed at removing avoidable overhead rather than at trimming features, and there is a full compatibility mode if you need behaviour to match standard Python down to the error messages. To build anything you need a C compiler. The README lists several supported options: the Zig compiler, MinGW64 on Windows which Nuitka can download for you, Visual Studio 2022 or higher, gcc 5.1 or later on Linux and BSD, and clang on macOS and most FreeBSD systems. For Python 3.4 specifically, and for some other situations, a second Python install is needed at build time because the internal build orchestrator called Scons does not match all the versions Nuitka itself supports. Standard CPython, Anaconda Python, or Homebrew Python on macOS work, but the Windows Store build and pyenv on macOS are known to fail. Supported operating systems are Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, macOS, and Windows in 32-bit, 64-bit, and ARM forms. Tested architectures are x86, x86_64, and arm, with others such as RISC-V expected to work. The recommended way to invoke the tool is to run python -m nuitka so that the Python version is unambiguous. Output binaries can be made portable using the standalone or onefile modes, which produce a single file you can copy to other machines that do not have Python installed.