PySkein is an extension module for Python 3.0 or later,
implementing the Skein hash algorithm, one of the Second
Round Candidates in the NIST SHA-3 Competition. While
originally based on the optimized version of the reference
implementation by Doug Whiting, PySkein has since evolved into a
feature-rich and pythonic module. It is released as free
software under the GNU General Public License. Its highlights
are:
- A simple interface following the hash algorithms in the
Python standard library (like hashlib.sha1 or
hashlib.sha256)
- Many features of the Skein specification (such as tree
hashing, various parameters and output sizes etc.)
- High hashing performance through efficient implementation
in C (370 MB/s in sequential hashing and 579 MB/s in tree
hashing on two cores, measured on a 2.8 GHz Opteron)
- Threefish, the tweakable block cipher used in Skein,
available for encrytion and decryption on its own