But it's not running through Python at all (as I understand it). The kernel is all implemented in Julia. It just uses the IPython frontend and architecture.
See this post on the implementation of IHaskell[1] for more details. My understanding is that IJulia uses the same concepts. Notably, when running IJulia, you can't even use %%magics to change back to Python mode.
Thanks for the explanation and link. I think you are correct in that it doesn't appear to be using any Python. The demo I saw was given by Fernando Perez [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=F4rFu...] where he demonstrated a cross language example which, whilst technically impressive, wasn't something I felt I would attempt. Like I said I'm probably just a wimp.
See this post on the implementation of IHaskell[1] for more details. My understanding is that IJulia uses the same concepts. Notably, when running IJulia, you can't even use %%magics to change back to Python mode.
1. http://andrew.gibiansky.com/blog/ipython/ipython-kernels/
(Also, it's firmly endorsed by the language creators. Stefan recently gave a talk using IJulia).