[Distutils] Compiler abstractiom model

[Greg Ward]

Quoth David Ascher, on 29 March 1999:
> On windows, it is sometimes needed to specify other files which aren't .c
> files, but .def files (possibly all can be done with command line options,
> but might as well build this in).  I don't know how these should fit in...

Are they just listed in the command line like .c files?  Or are they
specified by a command-line option?  Would you use these in code that's
meant to be portable to other platforms?

> > [my add_include_dir()/set_include_dirs() bureaucratic silliness]
> 
> Why not expose a list object and have the user modify it?

Duh, you're quite right.  I've been doing too much Java lately.  Mmmm,
bondage...

> Yes.  In general, I think it's not a bad idea to give control over the
> command line -- there are too many weird compilers out there with strange
> options, syntaxes, etc.

But, as I said emphatically in my last post, those sorts of things must
be supplied when Python itself is built.  I'm already allowing control
over include directories and macros -- which are essential -- so I'm
willing to throw in -g/-O stuff too.  But if we allow access to
arbitrary compiler flags, you can kiss portability goodbye!

        Greg
-- 
Greg Ward - software developer                    gward@cnri.reston.va.us
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