# Porting guide for Python C Extensions

This guide is written for authors of C extensions for Python, who want to make their extension compatible with Python 3. It provides comprehensive, step-by-step porting instructions.

Before you start adding Python 3 compatibility to your C extension, consider your options:

- If you are writing a wrapper for a C library, take a look at CFFI, a C Foreign Function Interface for Python. This lets you call C from Python 2.6+ and 3.3+, as well as PyPy. A C compiler is required for development, but not for installation.

- For more complex code, consider Cython, which compiles a Python-like language to C, has great support for interfacing with C libraries, and generates code that works on Python 2.6+ and 3.3+.

Using CFFI or Cython will make your code more maintainable in the long run, at the cost of rewriting the entire extension. If that’s not an option, you will need to update the extension to use Python 3 APIs. This is where py3c can help.

This is an opinionated guide to porting. It does not enumerate your options, but rather provides one tried way of doing things.

This doesn’t mean you can’t do things your way – for example, you can cherry-pick the macros you need and put them directly in your files. However, dedicated headers for backwards compatibility will make them easier to find when the time comes to remove them.

If you want more details, consult the “Migrating C extensions” chapter from Lennart Regebro’s book “Porting to Python 3”, the C porting guide from Python documentation, and the py3c headers for macros to use.

The py3c library lives at Github. See the README for installation instructions.

Overview

Porting a C extension to Python 3 involves three phases:

1. Modernization, where the code is migrated to the latest Python 2 features, and tests are added to prevent bugs from creeping in later. After this phase, the project will support Python 2.6+.

2. Porting, where support for Python 3 is introduced, but Python 2 compatibility is kept. After this phase, the project will support Python 2.6+ and 3.3+.

3. Cleanup, where support for Python 2 is removed, and you can start using Python 3-only features. After this phase, the project will support Python 3.3+.

The first two phases can be done simultaneously; I separate them here because the porting might require involved discussions/decisions about longer-term strategy, while modernization can be done immediately (as soon as support for Python 2.5 is dropped). But do not let the last two stages overlap, unless the port is trivial enough to be done in a single patch. This way you will have working code at all time.

Generally, libraries, on which other projects depend, will support both Python 2 and 3 for a longer time, to allow dependent code to make the switch. For libraries, the start of phase 3 might be delayed for many years. On the other hand, applications can often switch at once, dropping Python 2 support as soon as the porting is done.

Ready? The Modernization section is waiting!