[Pythonmac-SIG] Compiling Embedded Programs using autoconf et al update (original) (raw)

Robert White kranki at mac.com
Sun Dec 5 16:39:52 CET 2004

This is just an update of what I have been doing to figure out how to create a platform-independent means of compiling programs that embed python.
Since I am really new to most all of this, please let me know if you think I am going in the wrong direction.

First, I grabbed runFunc.c from python.org to use for testing and read the embedding and extending document. Then, since I had read the book, "GNU Autoconf, Automake, and Libtool", I started using it to create configure.in and appropriate Makefile.am's. However, I haven't gotten very far with this since it requires a little more knowledge than what I have accumulated to date. Well, I was thinking about going back and starting to use the XChat2 autoconf stuff for Python when it dawned on me that compiling extensions is very similar to compiling embedded programs. So, I went back to the "Python Cookbook" which has an example of an extension, elemlist, and it pointed me to the standard for installing extensions is to use distutils and create a fairly simple setup.py. Since "python setup.py install" seems to be cross-platform, I created a simple shell script from its output (using --dry-run) and used that to compile and link runFunc. It seems that compiling and linking extensions and embedded programs is very similar. (Please correct me if I am wrong on this.)

So, next I am now going thru the source for distutils with the hope that I can learn how to use it to generate the compile and link commands that I need for an autoconf setup. If it won't then I hope to create patches that will allow me to and try to get them implemented by the distutils team if that is possible. I do know in looking at the --dry-run stuff that at least for MacOSX 10.3, it knows everything that needs to be done and it is much simpler than trying to work with the LINKFORSHARED variable of sysconfig. Anyway, that it the direction that I am currently pursuing unless someone here indicates that that is not a good path to follow.

Thanks for your help.

BTW, I installed Darwin 7.2.1 on a spare Powerbook G4 that I have and got the information from sysconfig from it. I was pleased to find out that it installs quite easily and had python and cvs built into it.

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