[TIP] StaticPython, anyone?

[Peter Salvatore]

FWIW I wound up going with Jython for easy-deployment-bliss.  The more I
tried to use StaticPython, the more strange issues I ran in to.  I have
only begun to explore Jython/Java integration, but it has already proven
very useful.  I was able to get SQLALchemy working through zxjdbc
drivers without any trouble as well.

+1 Jython

-Peter

On 07/13/2011 09:02 PM, Peter Salvatore wrote:
> Hello TIP,
>
> I find StaticPython to be very interesting:
>
> Google Code project page:
> http://code.google.com/p/pts-mini-gpl/wiki/StaticPython
> (check out the slides at the bottom if interested)
>
> I work in software QA and use Python and various libraries to
> test/deploy/automate Java applications.  Installing a basic set of
> Python packages across various Linux machines in order to have a
> consistent testing rig has become a chore, especially when libraries
> require C extensions.
>
> First, I took the approach of figuring out and then documenting the
> steps to install specific libraries against the OS-bundled Python
> interpreter, but then this approach quickly becomes a mess due to
>
> * Python version compatibilities (before I heard of tox)
> * The cheeseshop makes it difficult to reproduce exact-version installs
> since fast moving libraries don't provide old versions at some point. 
> Even with a hacks like pip requirements or build out, it is still a
> chore in my opinion.
> * Various OS quirks: Does it have a the right version of a dependent
> library? Does it have development headers or is that a separate
> package?  In the case where the OS doesn't include a library or headers,
> can I compile it myself from source, and does that source have yet more
> dependencies?  Does it contain a working compile toolchain?  Can
> pip/easy_install use it?
> * etc ...
>
> My next approach was to manually build a *quasi-static Python and
> whatever libraries I needed from source on a per architecture basis,
> which mostly works, but adds a lot of complexity and when something
> doesn't work quite right I pull out my hair.  It also requires shipping
> a ~75MB bundle.
> *I could never figure out how to remove the libc dependency, so I also
> had an specific-version-of-libc dependency!
>
> My new approach will likely be stripping out all non-pure Python code
> that I rely on and move to StaticPython.  Since most of the libraries I
> use are pure Python already, it shouldn't be too painful.  In addition
> to StaticPython, I'm exploring Jython since I am almost guaranteed to
> have a working JVM on my target systems.  [Most of the libraries I use
> with C extensions are DB related, such as cx_Oracle and pymssql, which
> could be replaced with JDBC drivers in theory]
>
> My experience with StaticPython so far has gone well.  The only issue
> I've encountered is that some of my code that depends on threading
> crashes with a segmentation fault when running 50+ threads -- I haven't
> investigated yet.
>
> Thoughts about my approach and/or StaticPython in general?
>
> -Peter
>
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