Benjamin Peterson's homepage

Software

I've been involved in free software for several years. My main project has been the development of the Python programming language. Generally, I'm fascinated by parsers and compilers of all kinds.

I'm found on a lot of free software related sites, primarily under the username gutworth. My Twitter stream and blog often discuss software related topics.

Projects

I've contributed individual patches and bug reports to too many projects to enumerate individually here, so I only list projects where my most of my contributions lie.

Python implementations
  • CPython - The old and venerable reference Python implementation. I look after the interpreter, compiler and a few stdlib modules. In addition, I am the CPython 2.7 and 3.1 release manager. For my contributions to CPython I received the Python Community Service award in January 2011.
  • PyPy - A fast and compliant implementation of Python written in Python. It features a Just-In-Time compiler as well as pluggable features such as greenlets and different garbage collectors. I wrote the PyPy Python compiler.
Python libraries
  • six - A compatibility library for writing code that works without modification on Python 2 and 3.
  • py.test and the pylib - A powerful Python testing tool. I helped port it to Python 3 and worked on debugging support. Specifically, I'm responsible for the assertion introspection features.
Mozilla
In the summer of 2012, I worked for the Mozilla Corporation as an intern. I was on the JavaScript team. I implemented ES6 features in SpiderMonkey including function defaults and rest parameters. I also wrestled with a twisted chunk of code called the "decompiler".

Talks

I enjoy presenting. Here are the technology related talks I've given: