Interpreted

Pure interpreters that re-read source text are rare now. CPython, the standard Python, compiles each module to bytecode first and then runs that bytecode in an interpreter loop, one instruction at a time, without turning it into machine code. There is no build step to wait for, but a tight loop sends every instruction through the interpreter, and checks every type, on every pass.

The difference from a VM-hosted language is mostly what happens to hot code. The JVM and .NET compile it to machine code; CPython, by default, doesn’t. Python 3.13 added an experimental JIT compiler, disabled by default, so even this line is moving.