[Python-checkins] devguide: Copy of the 'Getting Set Up' doc from the website (needs editing).

[brett.cannon]

brett.cannon pushed 6c6251af7d96 to devguide:

http://hg.python.org/devguide/rev/6c6251af7d96
changeset:   8:6c6251af7d96
user:        Brett Cannon <brett at python.org>
date:        Tue Jan 04 10:53:45 2011 -0800
summary:
  Copy of the 'Getting Set Up' doc from the website (needs editing).

files:
  setup.rst

diff --git a/setup.rst b/setup.rst
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+Getting Set Up
+==============
+
+.. contents::
+
+
+Checking out the code
+=====================
+
+Python always has the in-development version of the current major versions
+along with the last minor release of each major version. For instance, if
+Python 2.6 was the latest release (and thus has a major version of *2* and a
+minor version of *6*), then the in-development 2.7 branch is available along
+with the maintenance branch for 2.6.
+
+For each branch there is read-only access for the general public and read-write
+access for those with commit privileges (called "core developers"). The
+location of these branches and the steps to check out the code are listed in
+the `dev FAQ`_.
+
+
+Compiling for debugging
+=======================
+
+Python has two features to aid in developing for it. First, there is a
+``Py_DEBUG`` compilation flag which turns on some features in the interpreter
+which will help with debugging. While this is not the only compilation flag
+available (see ``Misc/SpecialBuilds.txt`` in a checkout for all of them), it is
+the basic one that you should always use as it tends to catch bugs more often
+than running a build of Python without the flag.
+
+The other feature is support for using code directly from a checkout of Python.
+This is handy as it means you do not need to install your build of Python but
+can just use the build in-place. It also means that when you edit code in your
+checkout you get to see the results without having to install the changed files
+as well.
+
+The steps to compile a debug version of Python are specified in the `dev FAQ`_.
+
+
+Editors and Tools
+==================
+
+Python includes within its source tree some files to help work with various
+popular editors and tools. A list of those tools and what is available for them
+can be found in the `dev FAQ`_.
+
+
+Directory Structure
+===================
+
+There are several top-level directories in the Python source tree. Knowing what
+which one is meant to hold will help you find where a certain piece of
+functionality is implemented. Do realize, though, there are always exceptions to
+every rule.
+
+``Doc``
+ Â Â Â  The official documentation. This is what http://docs.python.org/ uses. The
+     tools for building the documentation is kept in another repository. To
+     build the docs, see ``Doc/README.txt``.
+
+``Grammar``
+ Â Â Â  Contains the EBNF grammar file for Python.
+
+``Include``
+ Â Â Â  Contains all interpreter-wide header files.
+
+``Lib``
+ Â Â Â  The part of the standard library implemented in pure Python is here.
+
+``Mac``
+ Â Â Â  Mac-specific code for things such as using IDLE as an OS X application.
+
+``Misc``
+ Â Â Â  Things that do not belong elsewhere. Typically this is varying kinds of
+     documentation.
+
+``Modules``
+ Â Â Â  The part of the standard library (plus some other code) that is implemented
+     as extension modules.
+
+``Objects``
+ Â Â Â  Code for all built-in types.
+
+``PC``
+ Â Â Â  Windows-specific code along with build files for VC 6, 7, & 8 along with
+     OS/2.
+
+``PCbuild``
+ Â Â Â  Build files for VC 9 and newer.
+
+``Parser``
+ Â Â Â  Code related to the parser. The definition of the AST nodes is also kept
+     here.
+
+``Python``
+ Â Â Â  The code that makes Python run. This includes the compiler, eval loop and
+     various built-in modules.
+
+``Tools``
+     Various tools that are (or have been) used to maintain Python.

--
Repository URL: http://hg.python.org/devguide