xeus-python vs ipykernel

[jklap]

Is there any documentation on the differences between xeus-python and ipykernel?

Are there things that you can do in ipykernel that can't be done in xeus-python, either because they haven't yet been implemented or simply because of differences in approach?

Or in other words, what gotchas or things would someone need to be aware of to migrate?

[JohanMabille]

There are two modes for xeus-python:

• xpython, which embeds ipython, and is almost at feature parity with ipykernel. You may have some issues with event loop integration, like matplotlib (but I don't remember the detail)
• xpython-raw, which is a pure C++ implementation. It is way faster to start, however you loose the support for matplotlib and some magics that have not been implemented yet.