Is IronPython usable as a replacement for CPython?

Question

Has IronPython gotten to a point where you can just drop it in as a replacement for CPython?

To clarify: I mean can IronPython run applications originally written for CPython (no .NET involved, of course)

Answer 1

Yes, pretty much, at least on Windows with "real" (Microsoft) .NET underneath. If you're depending on C-coded extensions, chances are that ironclad can bail you out; you get 2.6 support, just about every CPython standard library or third-party extension module (maybe not trivial for those coded in Fortran, or C++, but that's a minority), plus of course every .NET module on the planet -- not a bad tradeoff!

How well this works with Mono on MacOSX or Linux is a different issue...

Answer 2

It has been tested to work well with mono on Linux and I use it regularly to open up opportunities to use - as Alex Martelli so eloquently put it - "every .NET module on the planet".

I have faced some troubles in accessing third party extension modules, but that has pretty much always been a path issue, which is easy to correct.

I don't know how well this works on a Mac, though.