# exaloop/codon

A high-performance, zero-overhead, extensible Python compiler with built-in NumPy support

Repository: https://github.com/exaloop/codon
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/codon
Homepage: https://docs.exaloop.io
Language: Python
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: python, compiler, llvm, high-performance, gpu-programming, parallel-programming, numpy
Last push: 2026-08-26T21:30:33+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 90/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 73, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1801, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 183, "gap_med": 23, "n_releases_24m": 10}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 16834, forks 603 (observed 2026-08-28T04:11:17.373445+00:00)

## What it is
Codon is a high-performance Python compiler that statically compiles Python-like code to native machine code via LLVM, typically achieving 10-100x speedups over CPython. It supports native multithreading without the GIL, GPU programming, a built-in NumPy implementation, and interoperability with Python, C/C++, and JIT compilation of functions in existing Python codebases.

## Use cases
- speed up slow python code without rewriting in c
- compile python to native machine code
- write multithreaded python code without the gil
- accelerate numpy code
- create python extension modules without c or cython
- jit compile performance-critical functions in a python codebase
- run python on embedded or edge devices

## When to choose
- your python code is compute-bound and you want C/C++-level performance
- you need native multithreading or GPU execution from Python-like code
- you want to build fast Python extensions without writing C/C++/Cython
- you can accept a mostly-Python language that is not a drop-in CPython replacement

## When to avoid
- you need a fully drop-in CPython replacement for a large dynamic codebase
- your code relies heavily on Python's dynamic features or unported modules
- you need native Windows support (use WSL)
- you depend on arbitrary third-party Python libraries at runtime without interop overhead

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: compiler, concurrency, gpu-computing, cli, plugin-system
- domain: programming-languages, compilers, performance, developer-tools
- platform: python, cpp, cli
- tags: python-compiler, ahead-of-time-compilation, numpy, jit, no-gil, python-extensions, llvm, compiler, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- exaloop/codon (main) score 90

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:17.373445+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T08:30:59.715070+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/exaloop/codon (fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:17.373445+00:00, sha 55947668100f)
  - homepage: https://docs.exaloop.io (fetched 2026-08-29T08:01:54.785698+00:00, sha af74db7d04c9)
  - site_page: https://docs.exaloop.io/start/install (fetched 2026-08-29T08:01:54.788507+00:00, sha ad798f2748b8)
  - site_page: https://docs.exaloop.io/integrations/python/python-from-codon (fetched 2026-08-29T08:01:54.791005+00:00, sha 81c2ccac666d)
  - site_page: https://docs.exaloop.io/start/faq (fetched 2026-08-29T08:01:54.794307+00:00, sha d009dec08194)
  - site_page: https://docs.exaloop.io/start/changelog (fetched 2026-08-29T08:01:54.796874+00:00, sha 600c22babd95)
  - site_page: https://docs.exaloop.io/integrations/python/codon-from-python (fetched 2026-08-29T08:01:54.799311+00:00, sha dba98eb2c914)
  - site_page: https://docs.exaloop.io/integrations/python/extensions (fetched 2026-08-29T08:01:54.801488+00:00, sha e91b111429ab)
  - site_page: https://docs.exaloop.io/integrations/cpp/cpp-from-codon (fetched 2026-08-29T08:01:54.803645+00:00, sha abae1e7a33ea)
  - site_page: https://docs.exaloop.io/integrations/cpp/codon-from-cpp (fetched 2026-08-29T08:01:54.805408+00:00, sha 03a9d82954fd)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.