=========================================
D-Bus Python bindings - notes for hackers
=========================================

:Author: Simon McVittie, `Collabora`_
:Date: 2007-01-24

.. _Collabora: http://www.collabora.co.uk/

Upstream development
====================

dbus-python is developed at freedesktop.org using ``git``.
See UsingGit_ for some details.

.. _UsingGit: http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/UsingGit

Anonymous access
    ``git clone git://anongit.freedesktop.org/git/dbus/dbus-python``
Committer access (requires freedesktop.org shell account)
    ``git clone git+ssh://git.freedesktop.org/git/dbus/dbus-python``

Modules
=======

``dbus``, ``dbus.service`` and ``dbus.mainloop`` are core public API.

``dbus.lowlevel`` provides a lower-level public API for advanced use.

``dbus.mainloop.glib`` is the public API for the GLib main loop integration.

``dbus.types`` and ``dbus.exceptions`` are mainly for backwards
compatibility - use ``dbus`` instead in new code. Ditto ``dbus.glib``.

``dbus._dbus``, ``dbus.introspect_parser``, ``dbus.proxies`` are internal
implementation details.

``_dbus_bindings`` is the real implementation of the Python/libdbus
integration, while ``_dbus_bindings`` is the real implementation of
Python/libdbus-glib integration. Neither is public API, although some
of the classes and functions are exposed as public API in other modules.

Threading/locking model
=======================

All Python functions must be called with the GIL (obviously).

Before calling into any D-Bus function that can block, release the GIL;
as well as the usual "be nice to other threads", D-Bus does its own
locking and we don't want to deadlock with it. Most Connection methods
can block.

Other notes
===========

Code needs to be Python 2.5 compatible - use Py_ssize_t where appropriate.
See http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0353/ for details.

Indentation and other holy wars
===============================

Python code is meant to follow PEP8, and has 4-space indentation, no hard tabs.

C code is meant to follow what PEP7 refers to as "Python 3000" style - 4-space
indentation, no hard tabs, otherwise consistent with historical Python 2.x
code.

Docstrings etc. are reStructuredText.