General organization

c++2py works in two steps, illustrated in Fig. `c++2py.png`_.

1. The analysis of the C++ code (header) abc.hpp of the functions and classes to be exposed to Python produces a file abc_desc.py. This file is a description of the objects to be exposed from C++ to Python. This description is itself written in Python, with an API presented in _documentation/manual/cpp2py.
2. From the description file abc_desc.py, the tool generate the C wrapping code, which is then compiled with the C++ code to produce the Python module abc.so ready to be imported in Python.

This is illustrated on the Figure.

Remarks:

• Some advanced features are obtained by modifying (or writing from scratch) the abc_desc.py file.
• The first step requires the use of the Clang compiler (libClang to be precise), while the second step does not. Typically the abc_desc.py is generated by the developer and distributed along with the source to compile in non-clang environment.