[Python-ideas] discouraging direct use of the C-API

[Nick Coghlan]

On 7 May 2015 at 02:23, Eric Snow <ericsnowcurrently at gmail.com> wrote:
> A big blocker to making certain sweeping changes to CPython (e.g.
> ref-counting) is compatibility with the vast body of C extension
> modules out there that use the C-API.  While there are certainly
> drastic long-term solutions to that problem, there is one thing we can
> do in the short-term that would at least get the ball rolling.  We can
> put a big red note at the top of every page of the C-API docs that
> encourages folks to either use CFFI or Cython.
>
> Thoughts?

Rather than embedding these recommendations directly in the version
specific CPython docs, I'd prefer to see contributions to fill in the
incomplete sections in
https://packaging.python.org/en/latest/extensions.html with links back
to the relevant parts of the C API documentation and docs for other
projects (I was able to write the current overview section on that
page in a few hours, as I didn't need to do much research for that,
but filling in the other sections properly involves significantly more
work).

That page is already linked from the landing page for the extending &
embedding documentation as part of a recommendation to consider the
use of third party tools rather than handcrafting your own extension
modules: https://docs.python.org/3/extending/index.html#recommended-third-party-tools

The landing page for the C API docs links back to the extending &
embedding guide, but the link is embedded in the header paragraph
rather than being a See Also link:
https://docs.python.org/3/c-api/index.html

Cheers,
Nick.

>
> -eric
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-- 
Nick Coghlan   |   ncoghlan at gmail.com   |   Brisbane, Australia