How to create Python module distribution to gracefully fall-back to pure Python code
- by Craig McQueen
I have written a Python module, and I have two versions: a pure Python implementation and a C extension. I've written the __init__.py file so that it tries to import the C extension, and if that fails, it imports the pure Python code (is that reasonable?).
Now, I'd like to know what is the best way to distribute this module (e.g. write setup.py) so it can be easily used by people with or without the facility to build, or use, the C extension, just by running:
python setup.py install
My experience is limited, but I see two possible cases:
User does not have MS Visual Studio, or the GCC compiler suite, installed on their machine, to build the C extension
User is running IronPython, Jython, or anything other than CPython. I only have used CPython. So I'm not sure how I could distribute this module so that it would work smoothly and be easy to install on those platforms, if they're unable to use the C extension.
