# Python and the Build System

We wrote the build system in Python because of its excellent portability, and ease of maintenance. Python code has a "cleaner" look to it than Perl, and the C API is easy to use. Although you can use newer versions of Python with the build system, we have chosen to standardize on Python 1.5.2 on all platforms. One oddity of Python is white space, not brackets, designate code blocks.

If you've never seen Python code before, here's a example of a simple program that counts the integers from 0 to 5:

    def print_count(n):
        for i in range(n+1):
            print i

    print_count(5)

For more information on Python, visit www.python.org.