[Numpy-discussion] preferred numpy build system

[David Cournapeau]

On Mon, Feb 9, 2009 at 5:17 AM, Brian Granger <ellisonbg.net at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I don't find it that surprising - numpy and scipy require some
>> relatively advanced features (mixed language and cross-platform with
>> support for many toolchains). Within the open source tools, I know
>> only two which can handle those requirements: scons and cmake. For
>> example, it would almost impossible to build numpy/scipy with
>> autoconf.
>
> I know some autotools/autoconf hackers that could probably get it to
> build numpy/scipy, ..., oh what, you want Windows support?  ;-)

Yes, autotools support for MS compilers is very poor - I think it is
fair to say it is unusable as of today. And one of the goal of
numscons is to make the process easier to use/hack (it is a mixed
success on this front - the build knowledge is much easier to read in
numscons than in distutils IMHO, but it is still too arcane on some
fronts, partly because distutils is way too flexible in areas it
should not).

David