*Result*: Converting Python Virtual Machine Code to C

*The optimization of a Python program has a limit point, beyond which a programmer must resort to C code in order to get more speed. Not all programmers are willing or able to take this step. 211 is an experimental program which automatically converts Python virtual machine code into C. In this paper I discuss 211, its results, and suggest changes to Python's internals which should yield better results and faster programs. 1 Introduction My first nontrivial Python program was a 1400-line program that built and manipulated large graphs. While I found Python made for very fast development, the result was somewhat disappointing --- medium-sized inputs could take days to run, making large inputs out of the question. I applied the usual optimization techniques [3]. Using Python's profiler, I was able to identify "hot spots" in the program where the majority of time was being spent; changing that code to use more efficient data structures and cache previouslycomputed information sped the pro.*