As someone who has written XS code with Perl and used the Python C API to create modules, I have to say that the Python mechanisms seem much slicker. Python's distutils is so easy to use, I really wish there was a Perl equivalent ("so write one": if only I had the time). You could argue that ExtUtils::MakeMaker is an equivalent, but that is a generation behind distutils.

As usual I have learnt a lot from the comments on this node from others. I wonder if one of the reasons why the Perl module installation process is so unfriendly might simply be that there is a lack of knowledge of the tools available (or maybe that's just me?). There are so many ways to do it in Perl, but most just want the best way, and need that to be in the main documentation and be accessible. OK, so we have perlnewmod and its ilk, and that gives us the kind of user experience that hermida is complaining about.

Right now a Perl author has to look hard for the best way to create a distribution, with Python you are given it.

In reply to Re: Why are other popular languages very different from Perl when installing libraries, e.g. no testing needed and no compilation of C/C++ code done by cdarke
in thread Why are other popular languages very different from Perl when installing libraries, e.g. no testing needed and no compilation of C/C++ code done by hermida

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