[Python-Dev] Maybe we should have a C++ extension for testing... (original) (raw)

"Martin v. Löwis" martin at v.loewis.de
Sat Sep 23 14:43:55 CEST 2006

skip at pobox.com schrieb:

One of our C++ gurus (that's definitely not me!) patched the Python source to include <wchar.h> at the top of Python.h. That seems to have solved our problems, but seems to be a symptomatic fix.

Indeed. The right fix is likely different, and relates to the question what API Sun defines in its header files, and which of these which gcc version uses.

I got to thinking, should we a) encourage people to compile Python with a C++ compiler if most/all of their extensions are written in C++ anyway (does that even work if one or more extensions are written in C?)

I can't see how this could help. The problem you have is specific to Solaris, and specific to using GCC on Solaris. This is just a tiny fraction of Python users. Without further investigation, it might be even depending on the specific version of GCC being used (and the specific Solaris version).

or b) should the standard distribution maybe include a toy extension written in C++ whose sole purpose is to test for cross-language problems?

Again, this isn't likely to help. If such a problem exist, it is only found if somebody builds Python on that platform. You are perhaps the first one to do in this specific combination, so you would have encountered the problem first. Would that have helped you?

Either/or/neither/something else?

Something else. Find and understand all platform quirks on platforms we encounter, and come up with a solution. Fix them one by one, as we encounter them, and document all work-arounds being made, so we can take them out when the system disappears (or subsequent releases fixed the platform bugs).

Doing so requires a good understanding of C and C++, of course.

Regards, Martin

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