= SIP =

SIP is a tool for quickly writing Python modules that interface with C++ and C libraries. Its home page is at [[http://riverbankcomputing.co.uk/software/sip/intro]]. It was written by Phil Thompson who is still actively maintaining it.

Full documentation can be found at [[http://riverbankcomputing.co.uk/static/Docs/sip4/index.html]].

SIP is used principally to support PyQt and [[PyKDE]]. Without it, it would be near impossible to manage the vast APIs these libraries provide.

Since v4.0 SIP can be used to interface Python with C libraries.

For earlier versions of SIP, a simple wrapper written in C++ was usually necessary. A proof of concept can be found with Jonathan Gardner's [[sipPQ]], a python module that interfaces directly with libpq, which is the C library used to interface with PostgreSQL. You can find this at [[http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=61057]].

----
== More Details ==

SIP is really the combination of four components.

 1. A template language resembling C++ class declarations that describes how the Python module will interface with the C++ library.
 1. A tool to convert the script into C++ code and Python modules.
 1. A module to support the resulting Python modules and allow the programmer access to some of the SIP internals for special cases.
 1. A pure Python build system that supports dozens of platform/compiler combinations.

----
''Excerpt from [[http://www.panix.com/~elflord/unix/siptute/|Programming With Sip]]:''

'''Introduction'''

This is by no means an authoritative discussion about SIP. Rather, it is a chronicle of the adventures and misadventures of a bumbling newbie trying to learn to use a great tool with little documentation. Some references that are essential in conjunction to this include: 

 * PyQt: an implementation of Python bindings for Qt. Reading the Sip files for these classes is instructive.
 * [[http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk/static/Docs/sip4/index.html|Official Sip 4 documentation]] | [[http://www.controlvideo.de/sip/|Old documentation]].

'''A Note About Versions'''

sip has changed from version to version. I'm using python 2.2 and sip 3.0pre7. Depending on the verion you're using, sip will behave a little differently. The most notable addition to the new version of sip is support for classes that are wrapped inside namespaces. 
-----

== ViM Syntax Script ==

Jonathan Gardner has written an incomplete sip syntax script. You can use it when you are writing a sip script with the ViM editor.

[[http://vim.sourceforge.net/scripts/script.php?script_id=659]]

== Tutorials & additional docs staff ==
Googling the web on SIP tutorials brought up 

 * [[http://www.controlvideo.de/sip/]]
 * [[http://www.riverbankcomputing.com/static/Docs/sip4/sipref.html|Official Documentation]]
 * [[http://www.panix.com/~elflord/unix/siptute/index.html]]