71 lines
4.3 KiB
HTML
71 lines
4.3 KiB
HTML
<html>
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<head>
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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
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<title>Background</title>
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<link rel="stylesheet" href="../boostbook.css" type="text/css">
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<meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.79.1">
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<link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="Boost.Python">
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<link rel="up" href="../building.html" title="Chapter 2. Building and Testing">
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<link rel="prev" href="../building.html" title="Chapter 2. Building and Testing">
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<link rel="next" href="no_install_quickstart.html" title="No-Install Quickstart">
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</head>
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<body bgcolor="white" text="black" link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF">
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<table cellpadding="2" width="100%"><tr><td valign="top"><img alt="" width="" height="" src="../images/boost.png"></td></tr></table>
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<hr>
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<div class="spirit-nav">
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<a accesskey="p" href="../building.html"><img src="../images/prev.png" alt="Prev"></a><a accesskey="u" href="../building.html"><img src="../images/up.png" alt="Up"></a><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html"><img src="../images/home.png" alt="Home"></a><a accesskey="n" href="no_install_quickstart.html"><img src="../images/next.png" alt="Next"></a>
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</div>
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<div class="section">
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<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">
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<a name="building.background"></a><a class="link" href="background.html" title="Background">Background</a>
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</h3></div></div></div>
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<p>
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There are two basic models for combining C++ and Python:
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</p>
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<div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; ">
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<li class="listitem">
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<a href="http://www.python.org/doc/current/ext/intro.html" target="_top">extending</a>,
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in which the end-user launches the Python interpreter executable and
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imports Python “extension modules” written in C++. Think of taking
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a library written in C++ and giving it a Python interface so Python programmers
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can use it. From Python, these modules look just like regular Python
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modules.
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</li>
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<li class="listitem">
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<a href="http://www.python.org/doc/current/ext/embedding.html" target="_top">embedding</a>,
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in which the end-user launches a program written in C++ that in turn
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invokes the Python interpreter as a library subroutine. Think of adding
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scriptability to an existing application.
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</li>
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</ul></div>
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<p>
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The key distinction between extending and embedding is the location of the
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C++ <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">main</span><span class="special">()</span></code>
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function: in the Python interpreter executable, or in some other program,
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respectively. Note that even when embedding Python in another program, <a href="http://www.python.org/doc/current/ext/extending-with-embedding.html" target="_top">extension
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modules are often the best way to make C/C++ functionality accessible to
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Python code</a>, so the use of extension modules is really at the heart
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of both models.
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</p>
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<p>
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Except in rare cases, extension modules are built as dynamically-loaded libraries
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with a single entry point, which means you can change them without rebuilding
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either the other extension modules or the executable containing <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">main</span><span class="special">()</span></code>.
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</p>
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</div>
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<table xmlns:rev="http://www.cs.rpi.edu/~gregod/boost/tools/doc/revision" width="100%"><tr>
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<td align="left"></td>
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<td align="right"><div class="copyright-footer">Copyright © 2002-2015 David
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Abrahams, Stefan Seefeld<br>Copyright © 2002-2015 David Abrahams, Stefan Seefeld<p>
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Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying
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file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at <a href="http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt" target="_top">http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt</a>)
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</p>
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</div></td>
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</tr></table>
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<hr>
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<div class="spirit-nav">
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<a accesskey="p" href="../building.html"><img src="../images/prev.png" alt="Prev"></a><a accesskey="u" href="../building.html"><img src="../images/up.png" alt="Up"></a><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html"><img src="../images/home.png" alt="Home"></a><a accesskey="n" href="no_install_quickstart.html"><img src="../images/next.png" alt="Next"></a>
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</div>
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</body>
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</html>
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