embedding python in c example

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reddit.com › r/python › examples for embedding python into c/c++ applications

r/Python on Reddit: Examples for embedding python into c/c++ applications

December 26, 2016 -

Hi,

I'm not sure if this is the place to post this, but here goes.

I'm currently trying to use the python interpreter as an embedded script engine inside another application written in C++. The overall goal is to use the python scripts to make the main application's behaviour dynamic, depending on which set of python files was loaded.

There are several requirements:

The c++ application exposes several of it's data structures so that they can be manipulated by python scripts. There are several discrete parts of the C++ code that should be exposed to the scripts as their own python module.
Multiple python scripts are loaded from the file system. Most of these define one or more functions that can then be called from the main application.
The application must be able to call the python functions from within multiple threads.

Most examples on the python website and boost's focus on either pure embedding or custom modules written in C/C++ that are then placed in the python interpreter's module path so I've not been able to find a comparable example. Consequently, I'm wondering if I'm using the right approach. I've run into afew problems related to modules and I'm not sure if what I'm doing is entirely the right way to go abou it. This is what I've done so far:

I've used Boost Python to expose several C++ classes and functions as python types. There are multiple modules with a few types and funtions each.
I've wrapped all interpreter related startup and shutdown code into a singleton class. On startup it calls Py_Initialize(), redirects sys.out and sys.err to the main application's logging, calls the init methods for each custom python module generated by boost python and calls PyEval_InitThreads to enable multithreading. The singleton keeps track of the main thread state and performs an orderly shutdown in it's destructor.
Once the interpreter is started, the application starts loading the python scripts from the file system. Each script file should be loaded as it's own module (I'm still thinking on how to do this) and uses only the embedded modules generated with Boost's python library.
Afterwards, whenever the main application needs to behave "dynamically", it calls a function within the python code. This is done by resolving the function by module name and function name from a handle to the main dictionary and then executing it (once again using boost python to find and call the function). Each call is wrapped within a packaged task and executed asynchronously on a thread pool so that the main application does not block on the global interpreter lock unless explicitly necessary. I've used PyGILState_Ensure() and PyGILState_Release() before each task to properly synchronize the calls.

Most of this works but I've ran into problems where import statements in python don't work while calling functions via the module name explicitely does work. For example: I'm creating a new object of type A in python. A is defined in module B, a module generated with boost python. If I explicitely construct B.A() it works without problems but whenever I try to import a name from module B I get a python error that it can't find the module. Does anyone know of a comprehensive example of loading custom modules into an embedded interpreter or, failing that, of a comprehensive guide on how to embed python into a C/C++ application (with or without boost) ?

Any pointers to good documentation or examples would be hugely appreciated.

I don't think I can directly answer your question, and someone who is more experienced with Boost than I am can probably address this better, but I definitely think you should post this on StackOverflow for more visibility. Alternatively, I recommend checking out Cython, since it may make things a tad easier than Boost. They are pretty light on examples - their official page only links to this simple example. However, you can find more information on their documentation page and also many examples online.

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Your general approach seems fine, and it sounds like it is mostly working at this point. The only remaining issue is "from A import B" statements fail? Without having more information, my assumption would be that you have incorrectly initialized your C extension modules. I am less familiar with Boost, but when using the C API for extension modules, make sure you've declared your objects in that module's PyInit function and aren't doing it later in your startup code. I am not very familiar with Boost Python, so I can't point you to the specific generated code to look at, but I'm sure you can track that down in their documentation. You also asked for reference for embedding Python in a C application. I used the basic Python docs when embedding Python here: https://docs.python.org/3.5/extending/embedding.html . There isn't much there, but in general the complexity comes from making your custom application's build play nice with the Python build. Do you have specific questions other than the import failures?

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# this file builds a C executable that embeds Python · # assuming no external module libs must be linked in · # works on Linux with a custom Python build tree · PY = /home/mark/python1.5.2-ddjcd/Python-1.5.2 · PYLIB = $(PY)/libpython1.5.a · PYINC = -I$(PY)/Include -I$(PY) basic1: basic1.o · cc basic1.o $(PYLIB) -g -export-dynamic -lm -ldl -o basic1 · basic1.o: basic1.c · cc basic1.c -c -g $(PYINC) The example task ·

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How to embed Python code in C program

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github.com › wagamama › embedding_python

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github.com › metacall › embedding-python-example

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This document describes how to write modules in C or C++ to extend the Python interpreter with new modules. Those modules can not only define new functions but also new object types and their methods. The document also describes how to embed the Python interpreter in another application, for use as an extension language.

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stackoverflow.com › questions › 50997744 › embedding-python-in-c-example

embedding python in c++ , example - Stack Overflow

1

For simple application as this, I wouldn't link the python headers to your programm, but as a more easy solution I would trigger the system() command of C++ and process the output.

Here a example from this question:

#include <cstdio>
#include <iostream>
#include <memory>
#include <stdexcept>
#include <string>
#include <array>

std::string exec() {
    std::array<char, 128> buffer;
    std::string result;
    const char* cmd = "./python script.py";
    std::shared_ptr<FILE> pipe(popen(cmd, "r"), pclose);
    if (!pipe) throw std::runtime_error("popen() failed!");
    while (!feof(pipe.get())) {
        if (fgets(buffer.data(), 128, pipe.get()) != nullptr)
            result += buffer.data();
    }
    return result;
}

You would then have to change the infinite loop in your python code, so that the python programm terminates and the rest of your C++ code executes, then you could probe the arduino with your python script from you C++ program.

stackoverflow.com › questions › 21010347 › embedding-python-in-c

Embedding Python in C - Stack Overflow

docs.python.org › 3 › extending › embedding.html

2

You've forgotten (or rather, were never told) that the current/script/executable directory is not added to sys.path when embedding the interpreter, so you've found some completely different module called "test" and are importing that instead.

Python

1. Embedding Python in Another Application — Python 3.14.7 documentation

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Basic examples to show how to embed and extend Python in C including: creation of module in C with functions handling and building Python objects; importing and calling python functions from C. · GitHub

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dl.acm.org › doi › fullHtml › 10.5555 › 1119128.1119136

Embedding python in your C programs | Linux Journal

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reddit.com › r/cpp_questions › how to embed python in c++?

r/cpp_questions on Reddit: How to Embed Python in C++?

September 26, 2022 -

Background: Hello! I am working on a project that will compute physics, graphics, and AI/ML tasks. I want to handle the physics and graphics calculations with C++ and the AI/ML calculations with Python. I have learned that you can embed Python in C++ recently but seem to be having trouble getting the embedding to work. I spent sometime away from computer science - about a year - and decided to comeback recently. I made the discovery that I like the theoretical side of computer science and want to conduct research. I am actually going to graduate school in computer science soon and I am very excited. I want to use this project to jump start my Ph.D.

Setup: Visual Studio Code on Windows 11

Questions: What is the best way to run and access Python scripts from C++ and how exactly can this be accomplished? I've tried inserting pybind11 as a submodule to my project git repository (I used this resource), but it has trouble finding certain header files, like Python.h - is there another solution that doesn't need pybind11? Is embedding Python in C++ even worth it? Should I just stick to using just one language or the other?

Thank you!

I would recommend going the other way since it is significantly less icky in my opinion. The main reason I say that is embedding and calling python from C basically looses all of the advantages of using python in the first place. PyBind11 is generally the tool for the job. You can bind you C++ APIs to python equivalents and call them from python. You could also use SWIG although I feel like it is falling out of favor for modern code. Have fun!

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https://docs.python.org/3/extending/embedding.html Are you using CMake? You need to figure out how to include the dependencies and header directories with whatever build system you are using. What ML/AI are you using? Most frame works that you can access in python are actually written in C/C++.

stackoverflow.com › questions › 63163947 › embedding-python-in-c-application

Embedding Python in C Application - Stack Overflow

Example at the next page points to a structure that calls a function from a script file with arguments and the rest. What I am trying to do is just to simply assign output of PyRun_SimpleString() to a char array so to speak to a string variable. ... Why are you printing the output? You wouldn't use printf for this in C. Why would you use print in Python?

stackoverflow.com › questions › 19243519 › embedding-python-app-in-c-app

Embedding Python app in c app - Stack Overflow

1

You can use gdb to find out exactly where this segfault is:

$ gdb python
......
> set args my_python_script.py
> run
.......
Segmentation Fault
> where

This will give you a stack trace and point you to the exact location of the segfault.

stackoverflow.com › questions › 9541265 › embed-c-in-python

embed C in python - Stack Overflow