phiton

Phiton

Phiton is a Python code compressor that converts standard Python code into a more concise notation using mathematical symbols and some lightweight compression techniques.

Phiton compresses Python into Unicode symbols. Control flow symbols (⇐ for return, ↥ for yield, ⟳ for while, ∀ for for, ⋔ for if, ⋮ for else, ⊘ for pass, ⊠ for break, ⋯ for continue), operators (≔ for =, ≡ for ==, ≠ for !=, ∈ for in, ∉ for not in, ∧ for and, ∨ for or, ¬ for not, ≤ for <=, ≥ for >=), special values (∅ for None, ⊤ for True, ⊥ for False), function definitions (ƒ for def, λ for lambda, Σ for class, ⊡ for async/await), block structure (⟨...⟩ for indented blocks, → for statement separator), common functions (ℓ for len, ℜ for range, ℯ for enumerate, φ for filter, ℤ for zip, ς for sorted, ℛ for reversed), domain prefixes (№ for numpy, ℗ for pandas, χ for sklearn, μ for matplotlib, Ψ for torch, Φ for tensorflow), and literals (#123 for numbers, $text for strings).

echo "#python"; cat test.py; echo; echo "#phiton"; cat test.py | python -m phiton; echo; echo; echo "#re-python"; cat test.py | python -m phiton | python -m phiton -d;

def factorial(n):
    if n <= 1:
        return 1
    else:
        return n * factorial(n - 1)

Can be phitonized (compressed) to:

ƒfactorialn⟨⋔n≤#1⟨⇐#1⟩⋮⇐n*factorialn-#1⟩

and then dephitonized (decompressed) to:

def factorial(n):
    if n <= 1:
        return 1
    else:
        return n * factorial(n - 1)

Note: Not all Phiton code can be dephitonized into Python code.

Features

• Convert Python code to a compressed symbolic notation
• Adjustable compression levels (1-5)
• Preserve comments and type hints (optional)
• Command-line interface

Installation

Using uv:

uv pip install phiton

or legacy pip:

pip install phiton

Or from the repository:

uv pip install git+https://github.com/twardoch/phiton.git

For development, you can install with extras:

pip install -e ".[dev,test]"

Usage

Command Line

Compress a Python file:

python -m phiton example.py

Read from stdin and write to stdout:

cat example.py | python -m phiton > example.phi

Preview compression without saving:

python -m phiton example.py --preview

Compress with specific options:

python -m phiton example.py --level=3 --comments=False --type-hints=False

Compress an entire directory:

python -m phiton my_project/ --output-path=compressed/

Show version:

python -m phiton version

Python API

from phiton import compress_string, compress_file, ConversionConfig

# Basic usage
result = compress_string("def hello(name: str) -> str:\n    return f'Hello, {name}!'")
print(result["result"])  # Compressed code
print(result["stats"])   # Compression statistics

# With custom configuration
config = ConversionConfig(
    level=3,             # Compression level (1-5)
    comments=False,      # Don't preserve comments
    type_hints=True,     # Preserve type hints
    minify=True,         # Minify the code
    symbols=True,        # Use symbol substitution
)
result = compress_string("def hello(name: str) -> str:\n    return f'Hello, {name}!'", config)

# a file
stats = compress_file("example.py", "example.phi", config)

Compression Levels

Phiton offers 5 compression levels:

• Basic: Minimal symbol substitution, preserves structure and readability
• Moderate: More symbol substitutions while maintaining readability
• Standard: Full symbol substitution with some structure preservation
• High: Aggressive symbol substitution and minimal structure
• Maximum: Highest compression with shortest possible representation

Symbol Examples

Python	Phiton	Description
def	ƒ	Function definition
return	⇐	Return statement
if	⋔	Conditional
for	∀	For loop
in	∈	Membership test
None	∅	None value
True	⊤	True value
False	⊥	False value
and	∧	Logical AND
or	∨	Logical OR
not	¬	Logical NOT
==	≡	Equality
!=	≠	Inequality
<=	≤	Less than or equal
>=	≥	Greater than or equal
=	≔	Assignment

Project Structure

phiton/
├── examples/           # Example files for testing
├── src/
│   └── phiton/         # Main package
│       ├── __init__.py # Package entry point
│       ├── __main__.py # CLI entry point
│       ├── cli.py      # Command-line interface
│       ├── config.py   # Configuration dataclass
│       ├── constants.py # Symbol mappings
│       ├── converter.py # Core conversion logic
│       └── utils.py    # Utility functions
└── tests/              # Test suite
    ├── data/           # Test data files
    ├── test_cli.py     # CLI tests
    ├── test_config.py  # Configuration tests
    ├── test_converter.py # Converter tests
    └── test_utils.py   # Utility tests

Development

Setup

• Clone the repository:

  git clone https://github.com/twardoch/phiton.git
  cd phiton
  

• Create and activate a virtual environment:

  python -m venv .venv
  source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
  

• Install development dependencies:

  pip install -e ".[dev,test]"
  

Testing

Run the tests:

python -m pytest

Run with coverage:

python -m pytest --cov=src/phiton

Linting

Run the linter:

ruff check .

Fix linting issues:

ruff check --fix --unsafe-fixes .

Format the code:

ruff format .

License

MIT License