PyBindGen 0.22.1

About

PyBindGen is (surprise!) a python bindings generator. The main features are:

• Generates clean C or C++ code, nearly as readable as code written manually by a developer;

• Generated code is self contained and does not require any external libraries or macros; after generating the python module only python header files are required, nothing else;

• Does not require Boost.Python (no C++ template magic, also works in C);

• The interface for code generation is a simple Python API, not some obscure interface definition language. Additionally PyBindGen can parse header files with gccxml, if gccxml and pygccxml are installed in the system (note: pygccxml has not been ported to Python 3 yet);

• Can be easily extended with new type handlers;

• Type handlers can allocate memory and register cleanup code to free;

• Supports in, out, and inout parameters (e.g. with pointers or C++ references);

• Supports multiple return values (e.g. due to out/inout parameters);

• Supports wrapping of simple C++ classes;

• Supports virtual methods in classes;

• Supports reference counted classes and, to some extent, smart pointers;

• Multiple inheritance;

• Wrapping templated classes;

Notable features NOT implemented:

• Converting exceptions from Python to C++ (only from C++ to Python is currently supported);

• Callbacks.

Supported Python versions

See the documentation.

Installation

NOTE: if checking out pybindgen from bazaar, do not forget to see the file HACKING for additional instructions.

Before proceeding make sure the system requirements are met. PyBindGen requires:

1. Python (http://www.python.org)

2. Python development files (the python-dev package in Ubuntu/Debian, for example)

3. A C/C++ Compilation tool-chain (apt-get install build-essential)

4. (optional) GCCXML and PyGCCXML

You can install PyBindGen using either the setup.py or WAF. Note: to be able to run all tests, which involve code generation, and subsequent compilation, you need to use WAF.

Documentation

The following documentation is available:

1. API docs (with introductory tutorial)

2. Many simple examples in the examples directory

3. Advanced examples in the unit tests (tests/)

4. The source code!