The rise of PyScript

What exactly does it offer, and what’s the future of this framework?

Tom Potanski

Last updated on September 23, 2022 | 4 min read

Trends

Python in the browser

When Peter Wang, the CEO and co-founder of Anaconda, Inc., announced PyScript during his keynote address at PyCon US 2022, there was a lot of enthusiasm. Despite the fact that this project is still merely an experiment in its early stages of development, social media users appear to already be smitten with it. What exactly does PyScript offer?

The possibilities of PyScript

In short, PyScript enables two-way communication between your code and the web page, allowing you to run Python scripts directly in the browser alongside JavaScript. Executing Python code in the browser is not new; the Pyodide project has allowed this for a long time (by compiling Python to WebAssembly), but what’s new here is the integration with the rest of the browser ecosystem.
Thanks to PyScript, one can easily include many modules directly from the pip repository: all modules written in “pure” Python should work, and some modules that require native code have also been recompiled into WebAssembly. Python has a very large standard library, as well as many great external libraries, so this project opens up interesting opportunities to quickly build simple supporting tools like security tests.

The meaning of PyScript for data scientists and the rest of the world

PyScript makes Python’s capability available to a far larger audience of front-end developers and creators. Almost everyone has access to a web browser, whether on a PC or a phone. This means that anyone who wishes for it, can access and begin programming without any infrastructure barriers. Python and advanced UI languages like modern HTML, CSS, and JavaScript have not cooperated over the past couple of decades. Python needed a straightforward way to design eye-catching user interfaces for easily packaging and deploying projects. Deployment is no longer a concern thanks to PyScript – the “architectural shift beyond the cloud” is offered by it, which means your web browser will be the center of everything. Data scientists now can share their models and dashboards in an html file, which will run code whenever somebody opens the file in a web browser. Making the Web a welcoming place for anyone looking to learn how to code, including children, is one of PyScript’s objectives. By only requiring your current text editor and a browser for installation and configuration, the framework succeeds in achieving that goal. PyScript makes it easier to share your work with others as a side effect.

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Things to keep in mind

• Python is added to the browser by PyScript; JavaScript is not replaced. Python can be used in a WASM in the same way that C program previously could;
• PyScript excels in handling large amounts of data in an HTML page in a totally serverless and portable manner. While it is possible to create a To-Do app as well, the advantages of doing so only apply to individuals who want to do so in Python since they lack JavaScript knowledge;
• Instead of replacing innovative JavaScript solutions, PyScript aims to enclose them.

PyScript seems to have sparked a lot of excitement among software engineers because it opened a new world to everybody. They believe it is a significant step toward making data science accessible to all people and bringing cutting-edge tools closer to them without the expense of complex server installations. Data scientists believe having more tools is generally a good thing, which makes the invention of PyScript useful. What will be the future of PyScript? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.