IronPython 3 Documentation

The repository is organized into the following functional areas:

• IronPython: Contains the core compiler and runtime (IronPython.dll).
• IronPython.Tests: Targeted compiler and runtime unit tests executed via a C# test harness.
• Public: Contains miscellaneous documentation and tutorials.
• Samples: Demonstrations of specific features, such as a comment checker and voice capabilities.
• Scripts: Infrastructure scripts and helper utilities.
• StdLib: Python standard library imports.
• Tests: General test suites.

IronPython is an open-source implementation of the Python programming language designed for tight integration with the .NET Framework. It allows users to utilize both .NET Framework and Python libraries, and enables other .NET languages to consume Python code seamlessly.

This package provides a standalone Python interpreter accessible via the ipy command. It includes a modified version of the Python Standard Library optimized for IronPython and .NET environments. The current target version is Python 3.4, though it may include features from later CPython versions.

Python 3 distinguishes between text (str) and binary data (bytes).

• Text: All text is Unicode. Use str for text.
• Data: Use bytes for binary data. bytes is immutable; use bytearray for mutable buffered binary data.
• Conversion: You must explicitly convert between them. Use str.encode() to convert str to bytes, and bytes.decode() to convert bytes to str.
• Literals: Use b'...' for bytes literals.
• I/O: open() defaults to text mode. Use open(..., 'rb') for binary mode.

After installation, you can enter the IronPython environment using the Enter-IronPythonEnvironment.ps1 script, which provides the ipy command for executing Python commands.

& "~/ipyenv/v3.4.2/Enter-IronPythonEnvironment.ps1"

ipy -c "print('Hello from IronPython!')"

Use the IronPython engine to embed a Python interpreter within a .NET application. This allows interpreted Python code to call .NET code and vice versa.

Note: This package contains only the engine. To run most Python packages and standard functionality, you must also include the IronPython.StdLib package, which is distributed separately.

var eng = IronPython.Hosting.Python.CreateEngine();
var scope = eng.CreateScope();
eng.Execute(@"
def greetings(name):
    return 'Hello ' + name.title() + '!'
", scope);
dynamic greetings = scope.GetVariable("greetings");
System.Console.WriteLine(greetings("world"));