When you wade through the fervent debates of the programming community, you'll undoubtedly find many advocates claiming that Python has won the so-called language wars.

What exactly there was to win, the nature of this conflict, who the opponents were, and why this supposed battle even took place remains shrouded in the mists of history. Nearly every programming language (well, not every single one... 😉) has its ideal use-cases, which means the arguments and discussions often boil down to a matter of personal preference, diminishing their significance for real-world decisions.

Regardless, Python currently boasts an abundance (to put it mildly) of use-cases. And that's a good thing. But is Python suited for building an Apple ][+ emulator?

Why not? That must have been what Arthur Ferreira, tweeting as @reinette_II, thought as he graced us with his creation, Reinette II Plus.

It's true that you might be able to build a more efficient emulator with fewer real CPU cycles per simulated cycle. However, considering how powerful modern machines are today, that's hardly a concern.

This SDL-based emulator is as stable as it is capable. It accepts .nib files of all kinds and supports all the original video modes at 30fps. With joystick and sound support included, the only thing standing between you and some retro fun is setting up a new Conda environment and executing a simple pip install.