Does the process of compiling source code in Python include certain stages?

Yes, the process of compiling source code in Python involves several stages, although it differs from compilation in languages like C or Java.

Main stages:

1. Lexical and syntactic analysis — the source code is transformed into an abstract syntax tree (AST).
2. Compilation to bytecode — the AST is compiled into Python bytecode, which is an intermediate representation.
3. Execution of bytecode — the bytecode is interpreted by the Python virtual machine (PVM).

This process occurs automatically when running a script. The bytecode can be saved in .pyc files to speed up subsequent runs.

Example: when running python script.py, the interpreter compiles script.py into bytecode and immediately executes it.