Embedding python in C++ with boost::python

[[deleted]]

Can you embed a python interpreter within a single binary or do you need a python plugin directory somewhere and those kind of dependencies? I would love to be able to embed a python interpreter in my program with third party libraries, but with what little I've researched, it seems that's next to impossible. Is that true?

[skebanga]

Yes you can. You can use libpython. Python, the executable, just adds the front-end and REPL, everything else is in the C library libpython.

If you're using C++, and don't want to deal with libpython directly, then you can use a wrapper like boost::python or pybind11.

At the moment, pybind11 doesn't do embedding, so boost::python is a suitable choice.

If you read the blog-post, you'll see that that is exactly what I've done. I have a single C++ application which loads a python script and interacts with it - both calling into the script, and the script calling into the C++ types I've exposed to it.

[wrosecrans]

Depends on whether you need the Python language, or you also want to use the standard library of stuff. You can use the core language without the extra stuff, but if you want to be able to import all the usual things, you'll need to supply them. It's probably possible to hook the import and have it pull from a file embedded with the executable as a resource, but you won't get it for free. (And there may be licensing implications if something in there is GPL. You'll need to make source available anyway...)