[Distutils] abstract build system approaches redux

[Robert Collins]

Just to set expectations: this whole process seems stalled to me; I'm
going to context switch and focus on things that can move forward.
Someone please ping me when its relevant to put effort in again :).

-Rob

On 4 March 2016 at 03:11, Nick Coghlan <ncoghlan at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 3 March 2016 at 23:44, Donald Stufft <donald at stufft.io> wrote:
>> * We make it easier to use a non Python based build system. This is also a nice
>>   thing, however I don't think it should be a major decider in what API we
>>   provide. Any reasonable build system is going to have to be available via
>>   ``pip install`` in some fashion, so even if you write your build system in
>>   Go or Rust, you're going to have to create a Python package for it anyways,
>>   and if you're doing that, adding a tiny shim is pretty trivial, something
>>   like:
>>
>>     import os.path
>>     import subprocess
>>
>>     BIN = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "mytool")
>>
>>     def some_api_function(*args, **kwargs):
>>         flags = convert_args_kwargs_to_flags(*args, **kwargs)
>>         subprocess.run(BIN, *flags, check=True)
>>
>>   I don't believe it to be a substantial burden to need to write a tiny wrapper
>>   if you're going to do something which I believe is going to be very unlikely.
>
> Ah, you're right, I hadn't accounted for the fact the same shim that
> makes a non-Python tool installable as a build dependency could also
> handle the adaptation from a Python API to a CLI or FFI based
> approach, so putting the standardised interface in Python doesn't
> raise any insurmountable barriers to cross-language interoperability -
> they just move the additional complexity to the less common case.
>
> Given that, I'm going to go back to reserving judgement on *all* of
> the points Robert mentioned, at least until you've had a chance to
> finish writing up your own proposal - the determining factor I thought
> I had found turned out not to be so determining after all :)
>
> Regards,
> Nick.
>
> --
> Nick Coghlan   |   ncoghlan at gmail.com   |   Brisbane, Australia



-- 
Robert Collins <rbtcollins at hpe.com>
Distinguished Technologist
HP Converged Cloud