Copy-and-patch compiler for hard real-time Python
I built Copapy as an experiment: Can Python be used for hard real-time systems? Instead of an interpreter or JIT, Copapy builds a computation graph by tracing Python code and uses a custom copy-and-patch compiler. The result is very fast native code with no GC, no syscalls, and no memory allocations at runtime. The copy-and-patch compiler currently supports x86_64 as well as 32- and 64-bit ARM. It comes as small Python package with no other dependencies - no cross-compiler, nothing except Python. The current focus is on robotics and control systems in general. This project is early but…
In plain words
Copapy is a Python compiler designed for hard real-time systems like robotics and control applications. Instead of using an interpreter or JIT compilation, it traces Python code to build a computation graph and compiles it to native machine code with no garbage collection, system calls, or runtime memory allocations. The tool supports x86_64 and 32- and 64-bit ARM architectures and requires only Python with no additional dependencies.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
In the maker’s words, at launch
I built Copapy as an experiment: Can Python be used for hard real-time systems? Instead of an interpreter or JIT, Copapy builds a computation graph by tracing Python code and uses a custom copy-and-patch compiler. The result is very fast native code with no GC, no syscalls, and no memory allocations at runtime. The copy-and-patch compiler currently supports x86_64 as well as 32- and 64-bit ARM. It comes as small Python package with no other dependencies - no cross-compiler, nothing except Python. The current focus is on robotics and control systems in general. This project is early but already usable and easy to try out. Would love your feedback!
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