Microsoft laid off the Faster CPython lead Mark Shannon and ended support for the project, where does this leave the Verona project?

I've been programming with Python for over 10 years now, and I use type hints whenever I can because of how many bugs they help catch. At this point, I'm beginning to form a rather radical view. As LLMs get smarter and vibe coding (or even more abstract ways of producing software) becomes normalized, we'll be less and less concerned about compatibility with existing codebases because new code will be cheaper, faster to produce, and more disposable. If progress continues at this pace, generating tests with near 100% coverage and fully rewriting libraries against those tests could be feasible within the next decade. Given that, I don't think backward compatibility should be the priority when it comes to language design and improvements. I'm personally ready to embrace a "Python 4" with a strict ownership model like Rust's (hopefully more flexible), fully typed, with the old baggage dropped and all the new bells and whistles. Static typing should also help LLMs produce more correct code and make iteration and refactoring easier.

The filename of the formal paper[1] reveals the internal codename: "Pyrona".

1: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/...

I wish Python had moved to the BEAM or something similar as part of the 2 to 3 transition. This other stuff makes me cringe.

Sounds like a fun job, I’d love to do something like this in my 9 to 5.

It’s also amazing how much work goes into making Python a decent platform because it’s popular. Work that will never be finished and could have been avoided with better design.

Get users first, lock them in, fix problems later seems to be the lesson here.