[Distutils] (final?) automake related questions

[Greg Ward]

Quoth Andrew Dalke, on 07 April 1999:
> Quick clarification question, then.

Quick answer:

    while still_confused:
        read_page ('http://www.python.org/doc/essays/packages.html')

Longer answer:

> What do you call a single file which is placed in
>   python1.5/site-packages/something.py
> 
> and referenced via 'import something'

I call that a module.  But that's not the only kind of module!

> and what do you call a set of files contained in a directory
> named 'something_else', placed in
> 
>   python1.5/site-packages/something_else/*
> 
> and contains the __init__.py to tell Python that this importable via
> 
>   import something_else

I call that a package.  But remember, a package is also a module!

> Is something == 'module' and something_else == 'package' ?

So yes, this is correct.

> If so, I want to change my name for the first (currently is 'classes',
> for lack of a better word) and the second from 'module' to 'package'.

Calling a module "classes" is ugly and doesn't tell the whole story (a
module can also provide functions and global variables!).  Calling a
package a module is *very* confusing!  I definitely think you should
make this change.

Here's my take on packages and modules in Python:

   A Python source file ending in ".py" and living in a directory on
   sys.path is a "module".  But this isn't the only kind of module.  A
   directory living on sys.path containing a file called "__init__.py"
   is a special kind of module called a "package".  A platform-specific
   dynamically loaded file on sys.path might also be a module, usually
   called an "extension module".  In general, modules can provide any
   kind of Python object, where something "provided by" a module may be
   directly pulled into another namespace using "from module import
   name", or accessed via the module as "module.name".  Usually,
   packages only provide other modules, but they can provide classes,
   functions, variables, etc.  Usually, "pure Python" modules provide
   classes, functions, and variables, but they can provide other modules
   (eg. 'os' provides a module called 'path').  And usually, extension
   modules only provide functions and variables -- my understanding is
   that they cannot provided classes, and I have no idea what the other
   hard-and-fast limitations on extension modules are (I really have to
   play around more there!).


Assuming all that is correct, I hope that clears things up!  (And if
anything up there is *not* correct, somebody tell me soon before I
hard-code my misunderstandings in the Distutils...)

        Greg
-- 
Greg Ward - software developer                    gward@cnri.reston.va.us
Corporation for National Research Initiatives    
1895 Preston White Drive                           voice: +1-703-620-8990
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