I'm thinking about using Python as an embedded scripting language in a hobby project written in C++. I would not like to depend on separately installed Python distribution. Python documentation seems to be quite clear about general usage, but I couldn't find a clear answer to this.
Is it feasible to deploy a Python interpreter + standard library with my application? Would some other language like Lua, Javascript (Spidermonkey), Ruby, etc. be better for this use?
Here's the criteria I'm weighing the different languages against:
- No/Few dependencies on externally installed packages
- Standard library with good feature set
- Nice language 🙂
- Doesn't result in a huge install package
edit:
I guess the question should be:
How do I deploy my own python library + standard library with the installer of my program, so that it doesn't matter whether the platform already has python installed or not?
edit2:
One more clarification. I don't need info about specifics of linking C and Python code.
Best Answer
Link your application to the python library (pythonXX.lib on Windows) and add the following to your main() function.
Put the python standard library bits you need into a zip file (called pythonXX.zip) and place this and pythonXX.dll beside the executable you distribute. Have a look at PyZipFile in the the zipfile module.