42 lines
1.9 KiB
Plaintext
42 lines
1.9 KiB
Plaintext
Q. I want to port Python to a new platform. How do I begin?
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A. I guess the two things to start with is to familiarize yourself
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with are the development system for your target platform and the
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generic build process for Python. Make sure you can compile and run a
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simple hello-world program on your target platform. Make sure you can
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compile and run the Python interpreter on a platform to which it has
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already been ported (preferably Unix, but Mac or Windows will do,
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too).
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I also would never start something like this without at least
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medium-level understanding of your target platform (i.e. how it is
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generally used, how to write platform specific apps etc.) and Python
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(or else you'll never know how to test the results).
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The build process for Python, in particular the Makefiles in the
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source distribution, will give you a hint on which files to compile
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for Python. Not all source files are relevant -- some are platform
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specific, others are only used in emergencies (e.g. getopt.c). The
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Makefiles tell the story.
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You'll also need a pyconfig.h file tailored for your platform. You can
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start with pyconfig.h.in, read the comments and turn on definitions that
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apply to your platform.
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And you'll need a config.c file, which lists the built-in modules you
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support. Start with Modules/config.c.in.
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Finally, you'll run into some things that aren't supported on your
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target platform. Forget about the posix module for now -- simply take
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it out of the config.c file.
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Bang on it until you get a >>> prompt. (You may have to disable the
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importing of "site.py" by passing the -S option.)
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Then bang on it until it executes very simple Python statements.
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Now bang on it some more. At some point you'll want to use the os
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module; this is the time to start thinking about what to do with the
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posix module. It's okay to simply #ifdef out those functions that
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cause problems; the remaining ones will be quite useful.
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