Python Make

[Helge Hess]

Hi,

Ian Clarke wrote:
> 
> Hi, just a quick idea I had that I wanted to share with the newsgroup.
> Has anyone considered using Python as a replacement for the "make"
> utility?  A module could be provided which did several small things like
> testing modification times of a list of source files against a
> destination file to see whether an update was required.

YES! I had the same idea :-)

> I am prompted to suggest this after spending yet another half-day trying
> to debug a Makefile.
> 
> What do people think?

I think it is a pretty cool idea. The negative aspect is that one needs
python for compilation then (eg you can't compile python using 'python'
makefiles).

I also wonder about a nice Python syntax for doing this. Did you think
about this issue already ? A simple makefile should look as easy as a
usual Makefile, maybe like this:

  a = Source('a.c')
  b = Source('b.c')
  c = Source('c.c')

  def compileC(source):
     gcc(source)
  
  all = { 'dependsOn': ( a, b, c),
          'action': compileC }

Hm, looks somewhat strange and a powerful 'make' framework needs to be
thought out first.

Greetings
  Helge
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