Eric Wilhelm wrote:
> # from Michael G Schwern
> # on Saturday 21 March 2009 17:02:
>
>>> Hmm, what if there were a module named 'compiler'? Not sure I want
>>> to play that game through though.
>> Having module wrappers confirming the existence of external utilities
>> and an API/config to where they may be found and how they are run may
>> be the simplest game to play. ExtUtils::CBuilder being one, and
>> possibly the most complicated, example.
>
> So that brings us back to where I started, which is that build_requires:
> ExtUtils::CBuilder is at least a definitive "not pure_perl" indicator.
>
> Except, Inline::C and swig are at least two other possible cases.
>
> So, would pure_perl or some sort of arch_independent flag be warranted?
Rather than the author declaring whether or not their code is pure Perl, this
is something which can derive from the meta data about external dependencies.
Once we have that info the author's fiat is redundant (and probably
inaccurate). And that information is very useful, so we should have it.
ExtUtils::CBuilder one part of what will be necessary to make a full external
utility system, an API around the various versions and variants of the tool.
The other part is what Alien:: does: install it.
What you wind up with is something like External::C which encapsulates both
what ExtUtils::CBuilder does. It won't install without a working C compiler.
If possible, it installs one (possibly too complicated for a C compiler, but
doable for other things).
It might be overambitious to ask for each External module to provide a unified
API. To begin it would be simple enough to have External::X modules which
simply confirm that X is installed and works. If its a command line utility
it might generate a config file to the install paths.
Then whether or not a module is pure Perl or whatever can be derived from its
external dependencies and also by recursively examining its dependencies.
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