July 14, 2021

Tools to Convert Python Code to JavaScript (and vice versa)

Python

Tools to Convert Python Code to JavaScript (and vice versa)

Did you know that it is possible to convert Python code to JavaScript? Well, yes! It is definitely possible. Although both are excellent programming languages with advantages and disadvantages, many beginning developers decide to start learning Python. Later, they may want to migrate projects that they developed in this language to JavaScript.


In addition, developers who program in Python appreciate how simple and easy it is to create complex programs using Python programming. We all would like that ease in each of the projects we carry out. However, there is no magic wand that can make a difference. As we all know, programming languages work everywhere, but thanks to technology, there are “tricks” or tools to make part of this possible. As your software development partner, we can help!


In this blog, we give you a list of tools that will allow you to convert Python programming code to JavaScript (and vice versa).

Brython 


One of the promises that WebAssembly makes is to allow us to use whatever language we choose to develop for the web, although this is still a distant goal. The philosophy behind Brython, at least regarding Python 3, is why wait?


Brython implements a version of Python 3 for client-side web programming through a JavaScript library that emulates all of the keywords and most of the built-in Python 3 functions. Learn how our experienced outsourced development team can help your company with this.

Scripts written in Python can be included directly on a web page. Brython provides a high-level Python module interface to interact with the DOM and the browser, that is, to handle all the work that is usually done directly in JavaScript.

JavaScripthon 


JavaScripthon strictly focuses on translating Python 3.5 and post-JavaScript code without providing full browser support based on projects like Brython. It issues ES6 code to minimize the need for polyfills on the browser side and works well with tools like Webpack by preserving source maps.


Most common Python keywords and behaviors are supported, including asyncy await, Python 3.6 strings, and Python methods and class inheritances. You can also insert JavaScript inline via a particular function call if you ever need to access JavaScript directly. And voilà! You can convert Python to JavaScript and vice versa.

Jiphy 


The name Jiphy is the short version for “JavaScript in, Python out”. In other words, Jiphy converts in both directions between the two languages. Also, we can mix the code from both languages before converting it to either of the target languages.


Before you dive in and start converting all of OpenStack to JavaScript, please note: Jiphy is not a full-fledged codebase conversion. Instead, its function is, as the README says, “to reduce the context switch required for a Python developer to write JavaScript code and vice versa.” We offer custom software development services if you would like to test your ideas for real-world applications.

Convert Python to JavaScript

JS2Py 


JS2Py converts JavaScript to Python, as the name implies, using a pure Python conversion engine. It has official support for ES5 only at the moment, although there is experimental ES6 support for the brave and fearless.


JS2Py supports a large amount of cross-interoperation between Python and JavaScript. You can import existing Node.js modules into your Python code using a js2py. It is also possible to evaluate the JavaScript side variables on the Python side, and Python objects can also be used from JavaScript code.

RapydScript 


RapydScript is a precompiler for JavaScript, similar to CoffeeScript but with more precise and more readable syntax. The syntax is very similar to Python, but it also allows JavaScript. It’s not another Python-in-a-browser clone; it’s actually JavaScript with more Pythonic syntax.

RapydScript breaks some of the Python rules to make JavaScript development more enjoyable. Like CoffeeScript, RapydScript is 100% compatible with all JavaScript libraries and browsers. To make development more fun, add several Python features to the JavaScript world (classic inheritance, better scope control, modules and import, and some more syntax sugar).

Another convenient feature of RapydScrypt: It offers both Python and JavaScript nomenclatures for certain operations when possible. For instance, the $ special symbol used by jQuery works as-is in RapydScript, and arrays can support both the .push (JavaScript) and .append (Python) methods. 

You can ask questions and offer suggestions for RapydScript in this group. 

Transcrypt 


If you hear the name Transcrypt and think of TypeScript, you are not far off the mark. Transcrypt follows the same basic idea: transpile Python to JavaScript. It also tries to preserve, wherever possible, the structure and idioms of the original Python code, including constructs like lambdas and multiple inheritances between classes.   

One of Transcrypt’s most significant advantages is automatic access to JavaScript’s Document Object Model (DOM). If you try to access document.getElementById in Python, for instance, the converted code will use the actual document.getElementById in JavaScript.

An associated project, and one still heavily under wraps, is Numscrypt, which ports the NumPy math-and-stats library to JavaScript. So far, Numscrypt provides only a subset of NumPy’s features, though these features (e.g., matrix math) are among the most commonly used. However, Numscrypt hasn’t been updated since 2018.


Now, it is worth remembering that it is possible to convert the logic of any language to any other similar language, but the tools we talked about above are for specific solutions. Keep in mind that JavaScript in its implementation is entirely different from Python. They are just meant to do different things and run in different environments.

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That’s it folks!

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