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<div class="section">
<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both">
<a name="python.techniques"></a> General Techniques</h2></div></div></div>
<div class="toc"><dl>
<dt><span class="section"><a href="techniques.html#python.creating_packages">Creating Packages</a></span></dt>
<dt><span class="section"><a href="techniques.html#python.extending_wrapped_objects_in_python">Extending Wrapped Objects in Python</a></span></dt>
<dt><span class="section"><a href="techniques.html#python.reducing_compiling_time">Reducing Compiling Time</a></span></dt>
</dl></div>
<p>
Here are presented some useful techniques that you can use while wrapping code
with Boost.Python.
</p>
<div class="section">
<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">
<a name="python.creating_packages"></a>Creating Packages</h3></div></div></div>
<p>
A Python package is a collection of modules that provide to the user a certain
functionality. If you're not familiar on how to create packages, a good introduction
to them is provided in the <a href="http://www.python.org/doc/current/tut/node8.html" target="_top">Python
Tutorial</a>.
</p>
<p>
But we are wrapping C++ code, using Boost.Python. How can we provide a nice
package interface to our users? To better explain some concepts, let's work
with an example.
</p>
<p>
We have a C++ library that works with sounds: reading and writing various
formats, applying filters to the sound data, etc. It is named (conveniently)
<code class="literal">sounds</code>. Our library already has a neat C++ namespace hierarchy,
like so:
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="identifier">sounds</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">core</span>
<span class="identifier">sounds</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">io</span>
<span class="identifier">sounds</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">filters</span>
</pre>
<p>
We would like to present this same hierarchy to the Python user, allowing
him to write code like this:
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="keyword">import</span> <span class="identifier">sounds</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">filters</span>
<span class="identifier">sounds</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">filters</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">echo</span><span class="special">(...)</span> <span class="comment"># echo is a C++ function
</span></pre>
<p>
The first step is to write the wrapping code. We have to export each module
separately with Boost.Python, like this:
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="special">/*</span> <span class="identifier">file</span> <span class="identifier">core</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">cpp</span> <span class="special">*/</span>
<span class="identifier">BOOST_PYTHON_MODULE</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">core</span><span class="special">)</span>
<span class="special">{</span>
<span class="special">/*</span> <span class="identifier">export</span> <span class="identifier">everything</span> <span class="keyword">in</span> <span class="identifier">the</span> <span class="identifier">sounds</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">core</span> <span class="identifier">namespace</span> <span class="special">*/</span>
<span class="special">...</span>
<span class="special">}</span>
<span class="special">/*</span> <span class="identifier">file</span> <span class="identifier">io</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">cpp</span> <span class="special">*/</span>
<span class="identifier">BOOST_PYTHON_MODULE</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">io</span><span class="special">)</span>
<span class="special">{</span>
<span class="special">/*</span> <span class="identifier">export</span> <span class="identifier">everything</span> <span class="keyword">in</span> <span class="identifier">the</span> <span class="identifier">sounds</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">io</span> <span class="identifier">namespace</span> <span class="special">*/</span>
<span class="special">...</span>
<span class="special">}</span>
<span class="special">/*</span> <span class="identifier">file</span> <span class="identifier">filters</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">cpp</span> <span class="special">*/</span>
<span class="identifier">BOOST_PYTHON_MODULE</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">filters</span><span class="special">)</span>
<span class="special">{</span>
<span class="special">/*</span> <span class="identifier">export</span> <span class="identifier">everything</span> <span class="keyword">in</span> <span class="identifier">the</span> <span class="identifier">sounds</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">filters</span> <span class="identifier">namespace</span> <span class="special">*/</span>
<span class="special">...</span>
<span class="special">}</span>
</pre>
<p>
Compiling these files will generate the following Python extensions: <code class="literal">core.pyd</code>,
<code class="literal">io.pyd</code> and <code class="literal">filters.pyd</code>.
</p>
<div class="note"><table border="0" summary="Note">
<tr>
<td rowspan="2" align="center" valign="top" width="25"><img alt="[Note]" src="../../../../../../../doc/src/images/note.png"></td>
<th align="left">Note</th>
</tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
The extension <code class="literal">.pyd</code> is used for python extension modules,
which are just shared libraries. Using the default for your system, like
<code class="literal">.so</code> for Unix and <code class="literal">.dll</code> for Windows,
works just as well.
</p></td></tr>
</table></div>
<p>
Now, we create this directory structure for our Python package:
</p>
<pre class="programlisting">sounds/
__init__.py
core.pyd
filters.pyd
io.pyd
</pre>
<p>
The file <code class="literal">__init__.py</code> is what tells Python that the directory
<code class="literal">sounds/</code> is actually a Python package. It can be a empty
file, but can also perform some magic, that will be shown later.
</p>
<p>
Now our package is ready. All the user has to do is put <code class="literal">sounds</code>
into his <a href="http://www.python.org/doc/current/tut/node8.html#SECTION008110000000000000000" target="_top">PYTHONPATH</a>
and fire up the interpreter:
</p>
<p>
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span> <span class="keyword">import</span> <span class="identifier">sounds</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">io</span>
<span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span> <span class="keyword">import</span> <span class="identifier">sounds</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">filters</span>
<span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span> <span class="identifier">sound</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="identifier">sounds</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">io</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">open</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="string">'file.mp3'</span><span class="special">)</span>
<span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span> <span class="identifier">new_sound</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="identifier">sounds</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">filters</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">echo</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">sound</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="number">1.0</span><span class="special">)</span>
</pre>
<p>
Nice heh?
</p>
<p>
This is the simplest way to create hierarchies of packages, but it is not
very flexible. What if we want to add a <span class="emphasis"><em>pure</em></span> Python
function to the filters package, for instance, one that applies 3 filters
in a sound object at once? Sure, you can do this in C++ and export it, but
why not do so in Python? You don't have to recompile the extension modules,
plus it will be easier to write it.
</p>
<p>
If we want this flexibility, we will have to complicate our package hierarchy
a little. First, we will have to change the name of the extension modules:
</p>
<p>
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="comment">/* file core.cpp */</span>
<span class="identifier">BOOST_PYTHON_MODULE</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">_core</span><span class="special">)</span>
<span class="special">{</span>
<span class="special">...</span>
<span class="comment">/* export everything in the sounds::core namespace */</span>
<span class="special">}</span>
</pre>
<p>
Note that we added an underscore to the module name. The filename will have
to be changed to <code class="literal">_core.pyd</code> as well, and we do the same
to the other extension modules. Now, we change our package hierarchy like
so:
</p>
<pre class="programlisting">sounds/
__init__.py
core/
__init__.py
<span class="underline">core.pyd
filters/
\</span>_init__.py
<span class="underline">filters.pyd
io/
\</span>_init__.py
_io.pyd
</pre>
<p>
Note that we created a directory for each extension module, and added a __init__.py
to each one. But if we leave it that way, the user will have to access the
functions in the core module with this syntax:
</p>
<p>
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span> <span class="keyword">import</span> <span class="identifier">sounds</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">core</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">_core</span>
<span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span> <span class="identifier">sounds</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">core</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">_core</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">foo</span><span class="special">(...)</span>
</pre>
<p>
which is not what we want. But here enters the <code class="literal">__init__.py</code>
magic: everything that is brought to the <code class="literal">__init__.py</code> namespace
can be accessed directly by the user. So, all we have to do is bring the
entire namespace from <code class="literal">_core.pyd</code> to <code class="literal">core/__init__.py</code>.
So add this line of code to <code class="literal">sounds<span class="emphasis"><em>core</em></span>__init__.py</code>:
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="keyword">from</span> <span class="identifier">_core</span> <span class="keyword">import</span> <span class="special">*</span>
</pre>
<p>
We do the same for the other packages. Now the user accesses the functions
and classes in the extension modules like before:
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span> <span class="keyword">import</span> <span class="identifier">sounds</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">filters</span>
<span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span> <span class="identifier">sounds</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">filters</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">echo</span><span class="special">(...)</span>
</pre>
<p>
with the additional benefit that we can easily add pure Python functions
to any module, in a way that the user can't tell the difference between a
C++ function and a Python function. Let's add a <span class="emphasis"><em>pure</em></span>
Python function, <code class="literal">echo_noise</code>, to the <code class="literal">filters</code>
package. This function applies both the <code class="literal">echo</code> and <code class="literal">noise</code>
filters in sequence in the given <code class="literal">sound</code> object. We create
a file named <code class="literal">sounds/filters/echo_noise.py</code> and code our
function:
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="keyword">import</span> <span class="identifier">_filters</span>
<span class="keyword">def</span> <span class="identifier">echo_noise</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">sound</span><span class="special">):</span>
<span class="identifier">s</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="identifier">_filters</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">echo</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">sound</span><span class="special">)</span>
<span class="identifier">s</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="identifier">_filters</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">noise</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">sound</span><span class="special">)</span>
<span class="keyword">return</span> <span class="identifier">s</span>
</pre>
<p>
Next, we add this line to <code class="literal">sounds<span class="emphasis"><em>filters</em></span>__init__.py</code>:
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="keyword">from</span> <span class="identifier">echo_noise</span> <span class="keyword">import</span> <span class="identifier">echo_noise</span>
</pre>
<p>
And that's it. The user now accesses this function like any other function
from the <code class="literal">filters</code> package:
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span> <span class="keyword">import</span> <span class="identifier">sounds</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">filters</span>
<span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span> <span class="identifier">sounds</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">filters</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">echo_noise</span><span class="special">(...)</span>
</pre>
</div>
<div class="section">
<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">
<a name="python.extending_wrapped_objects_in_python"></a>Extending Wrapped Objects in Python</h3></div></div></div>
<p>
Thanks to Python's flexibility, you can easily add new methods to a class,
even after it was already created:
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span> <span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">C</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">object</span><span class="special">):</span> <span class="keyword">pass</span>
<span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span>
<span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span> <span class="comment"># a regular function
</span><span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span> <span class="keyword">def</span> <span class="identifier">C_str</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">self</span><span class="special">):</span> <span class="keyword">return</span> <span class="string">'A C instance!'</span>
<span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span>
<span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span> <span class="comment"># now we turn it in a member function
</span><span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span> <span class="identifier">C</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">__str__</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="identifier">C_str</span>
<span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span>
<span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span> <span class="identifier">c</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="identifier">C</span><span class="special">()</span>
<span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span> <span class="keyword">print</span> <span class="identifier">c</span>
<span class="identifier">A</span> <span class="identifier">C</span> <span class="identifier">instance</span><span class="special">!</span>
<span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span> <span class="identifier">C_str</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">c</span><span class="special">)</span>
<span class="identifier">A</span> <span class="identifier">C</span> <span class="identifier">instance</span><span class="special">!</span>
</pre>
<p>
Yes, Python rox. <span class="inlinemediaobject"><img src="../images/smiley.png" alt="smiley"></span>
</p>
<p>
We can do the same with classes that were wrapped with Boost.Python. Suppose
we have a class <code class="literal">point</code> in C++:
</p>
<p>
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">point</span> <span class="special">{...};</span>
<span class="identifier">BOOST_PYTHON_MODULE</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">_geom</span><span class="special">)</span>
<span class="special">{</span>
<span class="identifier">class_</span><span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">point</span><span class="special">&gt;(</span><span class="string">"point"</span><span class="special">)...;</span>
<span class="special">}</span>
</pre>
<p>
If we are using the technique from the previous session, <a class="link" href="techniques.html#python.creating_packages" title="Creating Packages">Creating
Packages</a>, we can code directly into <code class="literal">geom/__init__.py</code>:
</p>
<p>
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="keyword">from</span> <span class="identifier">_geom</span> <span class="keyword">import</span> <span class="special">*</span>
<span class="comment"># a regular function
</span><span class="keyword">def</span> <span class="identifier">point_str</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">self</span><span class="special">):</span>
<span class="keyword">return</span> <span class="identifier">str</span><span class="special">((</span><span class="identifier">self</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">x</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">self</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">y</span><span class="special">))</span>
<span class="comment"># now we turn it into a member function
</span><span class="identifier">point</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">__str__</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="identifier">point_str</span>
</pre>
<p>
<span class="bold"><strong>All</strong></span> point instances created from C++ will
also have this member function! This technique has several advantages:
</p>
<div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" type="disc">
<li class="listitem">
Cut down compile times to zero for these additional functions
</li>
<li class="listitem">
Reduce the memory footprint to virtually zero
</li>
<li class="listitem">
Minimize the need to recompile
</li>
<li class="listitem">
Rapid prototyping (you can move the code to C++ if required without changing
the interface)
</li>
</ul></div>
<p>
You can even add a little syntactic sugar with the use of metaclasses. Let's
create a special metaclass that "injects" methods in other classes.
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="comment"># The one Boost.Python uses for all wrapped classes.
</span><span class="comment"># You can use here any class exported by Boost instead of "point"
</span><span class="identifier">BoostPythonMetaclass</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="identifier">point</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">__class__</span>
<span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">injector</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">object</span><span class="special">):</span>
<span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">__metaclass__</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">BoostPythonMetaclass</span><span class="special">):</span>
<span class="keyword">def</span> <span class="identifier">__init__</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">self</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">name</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">bases</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">dict</span><span class="special">):</span>
<span class="keyword">for</span> <span class="identifier">b</span> <span class="keyword">in</span> <span class="identifier">bases</span><span class="special">:</span>
<span class="keyword">if</span> <span class="identifier">type</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">b</span><span class="special">)</span> <span class="keyword">not</span> <span class="keyword">in</span> <span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">self</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">type</span><span class="special">):</span>
<span class="keyword">for</span> <span class="identifier">k</span><span class="special">,</span><span class="identifier">v</span> <span class="keyword">in</span> <span class="identifier">dict</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">items</span><span class="special">():</span>
<span class="identifier">setattr</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">b</span><span class="special">,</span><span class="identifier">k</span><span class="special">,</span><span class="identifier">v</span><span class="special">)</span>
<span class="keyword">return</span> <span class="identifier">type</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">__init__</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">self</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">name</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">bases</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">dict</span><span class="special">)</span>
<span class="comment"># inject some methods in the point foo
</span><span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">more_point</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">injector</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">point</span><span class="special">):</span>
<span class="keyword">def</span> <span class="identifier">__repr__</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">self</span><span class="special">):</span>
<span class="keyword">return</span> <span class="string">'Point(x=%s, y=%s)'</span> <span class="special">%</span> <span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">self</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">x</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">self</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">y</span><span class="special">)</span>
<span class="keyword">def</span> <span class="identifier">foo</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">self</span><span class="special">):</span>
<span class="keyword">print</span> <span class="string">'foo!'</span>
</pre>
<p>
Now let's see how it got:
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span> <span class="keyword">print</span> <span class="identifier">point</span><span class="special">()</span>
<span class="identifier">Point</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">x</span><span class="special">=</span><span class="number">10</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">y</span><span class="special">=</span><span class="number">10</span><span class="special">)</span>
<span class="special">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span> <span class="identifier">point</span><span class="special">().</span><span class="identifier">foo</span><span class="special">()</span>
<span class="identifier">foo</span><span class="special">!</span>
</pre>
<p>
Another useful idea is to replace constructors with factory functions:
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="identifier">_point</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="identifier">point</span>
<span class="keyword">def</span> <span class="identifier">point</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">x</span><span class="special">=</span><span class="number">0</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">y</span><span class="special">=</span><span class="number">0</span><span class="special">):</span>
<span class="keyword">return</span> <span class="identifier">_point</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">x</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">y</span><span class="special">)</span>
</pre>
<p>
In this simple case there is not much gained, but for constructurs with many
overloads and/or arguments this is often a great simplification, again with
virtually zero memory footprint and zero compile-time overhead for the keyword
support.
</p>
</div>
<div class="section">
<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">
<a name="python.reducing_compiling_time"></a>Reducing Compiling Time</h3></div></div></div>
<p>
If you have ever exported a lot of classes, you know that it takes quite
a good time to compile the Boost.Python wrappers. Plus the memory consumption
can easily become too high. If this is causing you problems, you can split
the class_ definitions in multiple files:
</p>
<p>
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="comment">/* file point.cpp */</span>
<span class="preprocessor">#include</span> <span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">point</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">h</span><span class="special">&gt;</span>
<span class="preprocessor">#include</span> <span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">/</span><span class="identifier">python</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">hpp</span><span class="special">&gt;</span>
<span class="keyword">void</span> <span class="identifier">export_point</span><span class="special">()</span>
<span class="special">{</span>
<span class="identifier">class_</span><span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">point</span><span class="special">&gt;(</span><span class="string">"point"</span><span class="special">)...;</span>
<span class="special">}</span>
<span class="comment">/* file triangle.cpp */</span>
<span class="preprocessor">#include</span> <span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">triangle</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">h</span><span class="special">&gt;</span>
<span class="preprocessor">#include</span> <span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">/</span><span class="identifier">python</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">hpp</span><span class="special">&gt;</span>
<span class="keyword">void</span> <span class="identifier">export_triangle</span><span class="special">()</span>
<span class="special">{</span>
<span class="identifier">class_</span><span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">triangle</span><span class="special">&gt;(</span><span class="string">"triangle"</span><span class="special">)...;</span>
<span class="special">}</span>
</pre>
<p>
Now you create a file <code class="literal">main.cpp</code>, which contains the <code class="literal">BOOST_PYTHON_MODULE</code>
macro, and call the various export functions inside it.
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="keyword">void</span> <span class="identifier">export_point</span><span class="special">();</span>
<span class="keyword">void</span> <span class="identifier">export_triangle</span><span class="special">();</span>
<span class="identifier">BOOST_PYTHON_MODULE</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">_geom</span><span class="special">)</span>
<span class="special">{</span>
<span class="identifier">export_point</span><span class="special">();</span>
<span class="identifier">export_triangle</span><span class="special">();</span>
<span class="special">}</span>
</pre>
<p>
Compiling and linking together all this files produces the same result as
the usual approach:
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="preprocessor">#include</span> <span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">/</span><span class="identifier">python</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">hpp</span><span class="special">&gt;</span>
<span class="preprocessor">#include</span> <span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">point</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">h</span><span class="special">&gt;</span>
<span class="preprocessor">#include</span> <span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">triangle</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">h</span><span class="special">&gt;</span>
<span class="identifier">BOOST_PYTHON_MODULE</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">_geom</span><span class="special">)</span>
<span class="special">{</span>
<span class="identifier">class_</span><span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">point</span><span class="special">&gt;(</span><span class="string">"point"</span><span class="special">)...;</span>
<span class="identifier">class_</span><span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">triangle</span><span class="special">&gt;(</span><span class="string">"triangle"</span><span class="special">)...;</span>
<span class="special">}</span>
</pre>
<p>
but the memory is kept under control.
</p>
<p>
This method is recommended too if you are developing the C++ library and
exporting it to Python at the same time: changes in a class will only demand
the compilation of a single cpp, instead of the entire wrapper code.
</p>
<div class="note"><table border="0" summary="Note">
<tr>
<td rowspan="2" align="center" valign="top" width="25"><img alt="[Note]" src="../../../../../../../doc/src/images/note.png"></td>
<th align="left">Note</th>
</tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
If you're exporting your classes with <a href="../../../../../pyste/index.html" target="_top">Pyste</a>,
take a look at the <code class="literal">--multiple</code> option, that generates
the wrappers in various files as demonstrated here.
</p></td></tr>
</table></div>
<div class="note"><table border="0" summary="Note">
<tr>
<td rowspan="2" align="center" valign="top" width="25"><img alt="[Note]" src="../../../../../../../doc/src/images/note.png"></td>
<th align="left">Note</th>
</tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
This method is useful too if you are getting the error message <span class="emphasis"><em>"fatal
error C1204:Compiler limit:internal structure overflow"</em></span>
when compiling a large source file, as explained in the <a href="../../../../v2/faq.html#c1204" target="_top">FAQ</a>.
</p></td></tr>
</table></div>
</div>
</div>
<table xmlns:rev="http://www.cs.rpi.edu/~gregod/boost/tools/doc/revision" width="100%"><tr>
<td align="left"></td>
<td align="right"><div class="copyright-footer">Copyright &#169; 2002-2005 Joel
de Guzman, David Abrahams<p>
Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying
file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at <a href="http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt" target="_top">
http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt </a>)
</p>
</div></td>
</tr></table>
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