[Python-Dev] Python build question (fixing pymath.c).

[Mark Dickinson]

Hello all,

I'm looking for advice on how to clean up an ugliness (one
that I'm at least partly responsible for) in the Python build setup.

Here's the problem:  some of the exported functions (e.g. atanh,
log1p) in the Python/pymath.c file aren't needed by the Python core
at all; they're exported solely for use in the math and cmath modules.
Even worse, these exported functions have no '_Py' or 'Py' prefix.

Since I'm currently working on adding some oft-requested
functions to the math module (gamma, lgamma, erf, ...) it seemed
like a good time to clean this up.

So I've now got a file Modules/math_support.c that contains
some functions needed by both mathmodule.c and
cmathmodule.c, as well as a couple of functions only
currently needed by the math module.  How should I incorporate
this file into the build?

One obvious solution seems to be to build an extra math_support.so
file that's then used by both mathmodule.so and cmathmodule.so.
Is this a sensible solution?  Are there better ways?

A complication to bear in mind is that some users may want to
alter Modules/Setup.dist so that either the math module and/or
the cmath module is included in the core Python executable.

Cluelessly yours,

Mark