pyembed Crate

The pyembed crate contains functionality for managing a Python interpreter embedded in a binary. This crate is typically used along PyOxidizer for producing self-contained binaries containing Python.

pyembed provides significant additional functionality over what is covered by the official Embedding Python in Another Application docs and provided by the CPython C API. For example, pyembed defines a custom Python meta path importer that can import Python module bytecode from memory using 0-copy. This added functionality is the magic sauce that makes pyembed/PyOxidizer stand out from other tools in this space.

From a very high level, this crate serves as a bridge between Rust and various Python C APIs for interfacing with an in-process Python interpreter. This crate could potentially be used as a generic interface to any linked/embedded Python distribution. However, this crate is optimized for use with embedded Python interpreters produced with PyOxidizer. Use of this crate without PyOxidizer is strongly discouraged at this time.

Dependencies

Under the hood, pyembed makes direct use of the python-sys crate for low-level Python FFI bindings as well as the cpython crate for higher-level interfacing. Due to our special needs, we currently require a fork of these crates. These forks are maintained in the canonical Git repository. Customizations to these crates are actively upstreamed and the requirement to use a fork should go away in time.

It is an explicit goal of this crate to rely on as few external dependencies as possible. This is because we want to minimize bloat in produced binaries. At this time, we have required direct dependencies on published versions of the byteorder, libc, and uuid crates and on unpublished/forked versions of the python3-sys and cpython crates. We also have an optional direct dependency on the jemalloc-sys crate. Via the cpython crate, we also have an indirect dependency on the num-traits crate.

This crate requires linking against a library providing CPython C symbols. (This dependency is via the python3-sys crate.) On Windows, this library must be named pythonXY. This library is typically generated with PyOxidizer and its linking is managed by the build.rs build script.

Features

The optional jemalloc-sys feature controls support for using jemalloc as Python’s memory allocator. Use of Jemalloc from Python is a run-time configuration option controlled by the PythonConfig type and having jemalloc compiled into the binary does not mean it is being used!

Technical Implementation Details

When trying to understand the code, a good place to start is MainPythonInterpreter.new(), as this will initialize the CPython runtime and Python initialization is where most of the magic occurs.

A lot of initialization code revolves around mapping PythonConfig members to C API calls e.g. the program_name field translates to a call to Py_SetProgramName(). This functionality is rather straightforward. There’t nothing really novel or complicated here. So we won’t cover it.

Python Memory Allocators

There exist several CPython APIs for memory management. CPython defines multiple memory allocator domains and it is possible to use a custom memory allocator for each using the PyMem_SetAllocator() API.

We support having the raw memory allocator use either jemalloc or Rust’s global allocator.

The pyalloc module defines types that serve as interfaces between the jemalloc library and Rust’s allocator. The reason we call into jemalloc-sys directly instead of going through Rust’s allocator is overhead: why involve an extra layer of abstraction when it isn’t needed. To register a custom allocator, we simply instantiate an instance of the custom allocator type and tell Python about it via PyMem_SetAllocator().

Module Importing

The module importing mechanisms provided by this crate are one of the most complicated parts of the crate. This section aims to explain how it works. But before we go into the technical details, we need an understanding of how Python module importing works.

High Level Python Importing Overview

A meta path importer is a Python object implementing the importlib.abc.MetaPathFinder interface and is registered on sys.meta_path. Essentially, when the __import__ function / import statement is called, Python’s importing internals traverse entities in sys.meta_path and ask each finder to load a module. The first meta path importer that knows about the module is used.

By default, Python configures 3 meta path importers: an importer for built-in extension modules (BuiltinImporter), frozen modules (FrozenImporter), and filesystem-based modules (PathFinder). You can see these on a fresh Python interpreter:

$ python3.7 -c 'import sys; print(sys.meta_path)`
[<class '_frozen_importlib.BuiltinImporter'>, <class '_frozen_importlib.FrozenImporter'>, <class '_frozen_importlib_external.PathFinder'>]

These types are all implemented in Python code in the Python standard library, specifically in the importlib._bootstrap and importlib._bootstrap_external modules.

Built-in extension modules are compiled into the Python library. These are often extension modules required by core Python (such as the _codecs, _io, and _signal modules). But it is possible for other extensions - such as those provided by Python’s standard library or 3rd party packages - to exist as built-in extension modules as well.

For importing built-in extension modules, there’s a global PyImport_Inittab array containing members defining the extension/module name and a pointer to its C initialization function. There are undocumented functions exported to Python (such as _imp.exec_builtin() that allow Python code to call into C code which knows how to e.g. instantiate these extension modules. The BuiltinImporter calls into these C-backed functions to service imports of built-in extension modules.

Frozen modules are Python modules that have their bytecode backed by memory. There is a global PyImport_FrozenModules array that - like PyImport_Inittab - defines module names and a pointer to bytecode data. The FrozenImporter calls into undocumented C functions exported to Python to try to service import requests for frozen modules.

Path-based module loading via the PathFinder meta path importer is what most people are likely familiar with. It uses sys.path and a handful of other settings to traverse filesystem paths, looking for modules in those locations. e.g. if sys.path contains ['', '/usr/lib/python3.7', '/usr/lib/python3.7/lib-dynload', '/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages'], PathFinder will look for .py, .pyc, and compiled extension modules (.so, .dll, etc) in each of those paths to service an import request. Path-based module loading is a complicated beast, as it deals with all kinds of complexity like caching bytecode .pyc files, differentiating between Python modules and extension modules, namespace packages, finding search locations in registry entries, etc. Altogether, there are 1500+ lines constituting path-based importing logic in importlib._bootstrap_external!

Default Initialization of Python Importing Mechanism

CPython’s internals go through a convoluted series of steps to initialize the importing mechanism. This is because there’s a bit of chicken-and-egg scenario going on. The meta path importers are implemented as Python modules using Python source code (importlib._bootstrap and importlib._bootstrap_external). But in order to execute Python code you need an initialized Python interpreter. And in order to execute a Python module you need to import it. And how do you do any of this if the importing functionality is implemented as Python source code and as a module?!

A few tricks are employed.

At Python build time, the source code for importlib._bootstrap and importlib._bootstrap_external are compiled into bytecode. This bytecode is made available to the global PyImport_FrozenModules array as the _frozen_importlib and _frozen_importlib_external module names, respectively. This means the bytecode is available for Python to load from memory and the original .py files are not needed.

During interpreter initialization, Python initializes some special built-in extension modules using its internal import mechanism APIs. These bypass the Python-based APIs like __import__. This limited set of modules includes _imp and sys, which are both completely implemented in C.

During initialization, the interpreter also knows to explicitly look for and load the _frozen_importlib module from its frozen bytecode. It creates a new module object by hand without going through the normal import mechanism. It then calls the _install() function in the loaded module. This function executes Python code on the partially bootstrapped Python interpreter which culminates with BuiltinImporter and FrozenImporter being registered on sys.meta_path. At this point, the interpreter can import compiled built-in extension modules and frozen modules. Subsequent interpreter initialization henceforth uses the initialized importing mechanism to import modules via normal import means.

Later during interpreter initialization, the _frozen_importlib_external frozen module is loaded from bytecode and its _install() is also called. This self-installation adds PathFinder to sys.meta_path. At this point, modules can be imported from the filesystem. This includes .py based modules from the Python standard library as well as any 3rd party modules.

Interpreter initialization continues on to do other things, such as initialize signal handlers, initialize the filesystem encoding, set up the sys.std* streams, etc. This involves importing various .py backed modules (from the filesystem). Eventually interpreter initialization is complete and the interpreter is ready to execute the user’s Python code!

Our Importing Mechanism

We have made significant modifications to how the Python importing mechanism is initialized and configured. (Note: we do not require these modifications. It is possible to initialize a Python interpreter with default behavior, without support for in-memory module importing.)

The importer Rust module of this crate defines a Python extension module. To the Python interpreter, an extension module is a C function that calls into the CPython C APIs and returns a PyObject* representing the constructed Python module object. This extension module behaves like any other extension module you’ve seen. The main differences are it is implemented in Rust (instead of C) and it is compiled into the binary containing Python, as opposed to being a standalone shared library that is loaded into the Python process.

This extension module provides the _pyoxidizer_importer Python module, which provides a global _setup() function to be called from Python.

The PythonConfig instance used to construct the Python interpreter contains a &[u8] referencing bytecode to be loaded as the _frozen_importlib and _frozen_importlib_external modules. The bytecode for _frozen_importlib_external is compiled from a modified version of the original importlib._bootstrap_external module provided by the Python interpreter. This custom module version defines a new _install() function which effectively runs import _pyoxidizer_importer; _pyoxidizer_importer._setup(...).

When we initialize the Python interpreter, the _pyoxidizer_importer extension module is appended to the global PyImport_Inittab array, allowing it to be recognized as a built-in extension module and imported as such. In addition, the global PyImport_FrozenModules array is modified so the _frozen_importlib and _frozen_importlib_external modules point at our modified bytecode provided by PythonConfig.

When Py_Initialize() is called, the initialization proceeds as before. _frozen_importlib._install() is called to register BuiltinImporter and FrozenImporter on sys.meta_path. This is no different from vanilla Python. When _frozen_importlib_external._install() is called, our custom version/bytecode runs. It performs an import _pyoxidizer_importer, which is serviced by BuiltinImporter. Our Rust-implemented module initialization function runs and creates a module object. We then call _setup() on this module to complete the logical initialization.

The role of the _setup() function in our extension module is to add a new meta path importer to sys.meta_path. The chief goal of our importer is to support importing Python modules from memory using 0-copy.

Our extension module grabs a handle on the &[u8] containing modules data embedded into the binary. (See below for the format of this blob.) The in-memory data structure is parsed into a Rust collection type (basically a HashMap<&str, (&[u8], &[u8])>) mapping Python module names to their source and bytecode data.

The extension module defines a PyOxidizerFinder Python type that implements the requisite importlib.abc.* interfaces for providing a meta path importer. An instance of this type is constructed from the parsed data structure containing known Python modules. That instance is registered as the first entry on sys.meta_path.

When our module’s _setup() completes, control is returned to _frozen_importlib_external._install(), which finishes and returns control to whatever called it.

As Py_Initialize() and later user code runs its course, requests are made to import non-built-in, non-frozen modules. (These requests are usually serviced by PathFinder via the filesystem.) The standard sys.meta_path traversal is performed. The Rust-implemented PyOxidizerFinder converts the requested Python module name to a Rust &str and does a lookup in a HashMap<&str, ...> to see if it knows about the module. Assuming the module is found, a &[u8] handle on that module’s source or bytecode is obtained. That pointer is used to construct a Python memoryview object, which allows Python to access the raw bytes without a memory copy. Depending on the type, the source code is decoded to a Python str or the bytecode is sent to marshal.loads(), converted into a Python code object, which is then executed via the equivalent of exec(code, module.__dict__) to populate an empty Python module object.

In addition, PyOxidizerFinder indexes the built-in extension modules and frozen modules. It removes BuiltinImporter and FrozenImporter from sys.meta_path. When PyOxidizerFinder sees a request for a built-in or frozen module, it dispatches to BuiltinImporter or FrozenImporter to complete the request. The reason we do this is performance. Imports have to traverse sys.meta_path entries until a registered finder says it can service the request. So the more entries there are, the more overhead there is. Compounding the problem is that BuiltinImporter and FrozenImporter do a strcmp() against the global module arrays when trying to service an import. PyOxidizerFinder already has an index of module name to data. So it was not that much effort to also index built-in and frozen modules so there’s a fixed, low cost for finding modules (a Rust HashMap key lookup).

It’s worth explicitly noting that it is important for our custom code to run before _frozen_importlib_external._install() completes. This is because Python interpreter initialization relies on the fact that .py implemented standard library modules are available for import during initialization. For example, initializing the filesystem encoding needs to import the encodings module, which is provided by a .py file on the filesystem in standard installations.

It is impossible to provide in-memory importing of the entirety of the Python standard library without injecting custom code while ``Py_Initialize()`` is running. This is because Py_Initialize() imports modules from the filesystem. And, a subset of these standard library modules don’t work as frozen modules. (The FrozenImporter doesn’t set all required module attributes, leading to failures relying on missing attributes.)

Packed Modules Data

The custom meta path importer provided by this crate supports importing Python modules data (source and bytecode) from memory using 0-copy. The PythonConfig simply references a &[u8] (a generic slice over bytes data) providing modules data in a packed format.

The format of this packed data is as follows.

The first 4 bytes are a little endian u32 containing the total number of modules in this data. Let’s call this value total.

Following is an array of length total with each array element being a 3-tuples of packed (no interior or exterior padding) composed of 3 little endian u32 values. These values correspond to the module name length (name_length), module source data length (source_length), and module bytecode data length (bytecode_length), respectively.

Following the lengths array is a vector of the module name strings. This vector has total elements. Each element is a non-NULL terminated str of the name_length specified by the corresponding entry in the lengths array. There is no padding between values. Values MUST be valid UTF-8 (they should be ASCII).

Following the names array is a vector of the module sources. This vector has total elements and behaves just like the names vector, except the source_length field from the lengths array is used.

Following the sources array is a vector of the module bytecodes. This behaves identically to the sources vector except the bytecode_length field from the lengths array is used.

Example (without literal integer encoding and spaces for legibility):

2                     # Total number of elements

[                     # Array defining 2 modules. 24 bytes total because 2 12
                      # byte members.
   (3, 0, 1024),      # 1st module has name of length 3, no source data,
                      # 1024 bytes of bytecode

   (4, 192, 4213),    # 2nd module has name length 4, 192 bytes of source
                      # data, 4213 bytes of bytecode
]

foomain               # "foo" + "main" module names, of lengths 3 and 4,
                      # respectively.

# This is main.py.\n  # 192 bytes of source code for the "main" module.

<binary data>         # 1024 + 4213 bytes of Python bytecode data.

The design of the format was influenced by a handful of considerations.

Performance is a significant consideration. We want everything to be as fast as possible.

The index data is located at the beginning of the structure so a reader only has to read a contiguous slice of data to fully parse the index. This is in opposition to jumping around the entire backing slice to extract useful data.

x86 is little endian, so little endian integers are used so integer translation doesn’t need to be performed.

It is assumed readers will want to construct an index of known modules. All module names are tightly packed together so a reader doesn’t need to read small pieces of data from all over the backing slice. Similarly, it is assumed that similar data types will be accessed together. This is why source and bytecode data are packed with each other instead of packed per-module.

Everything is designed to facilitate 0-copy. So Rust need only construct a &[u8] into the backing slice to reference raw data.

Since Rust is the intended target, string data (module names) are not NULL terminated / C strings because Rust’s str are not NULL terminated.

It is assumed that the module data is baked into the binary and is therefore trusted/well-defined. There’s no version header or similar because data type mismatch should not occur. A version header should be added in the future because that’s good data format design, regardless of assumptions.

There is no checksumming of the data because we don’t want to incur I/O overhead to read the entire blob. It could be added as an optional feature.

Currently, the format requires the parser to perform offset math to compute slices of data. A potential area for improvement is for the index to contain start offsets and lengths so the parser can be more dumb. It is unlikely this has performance implications because integer math is fast and any time spent here is likely dwarfed by Python interpreter startup overhead.

Another potential area for optimization is module name encoding. Module names could definitely compress well. But use of compression will undermine 0-copy properties. Similar compression opportunities exist for source and bytecode data with similar caveats.

Packed Resources Data

The custom meta path importer provided by this crate supports loading _resource_ data via the importlib.abc.ResourceReader interface. Data is loaded from memory using 0-copy.

Resource file data is embedded in the binary and is represented to PythonConfig as a &[u8].

The format of this packed data is as follows.

The first 4 bytes are a little endian u32 containing the total number of packages in the data blob. Let’s call this value package_count.

Following are package_count segments that define the resources in each package. Each segment begins with a pair of little endian u32. The first integer is the length of the package name string and the 2nd is the number of resources in this package. Let’s call these package_name_length and resource_count, respectively.

Following the package header is an array of resource_count elements. Each element is composed of 2 little endian u32 defining the resource’s name length and data size, respectively.

Following this array is the index data for the next package, if there is one.

After the final package index data is the raw name of the 1st package. Following it is a vector of strings containing the resource names for that package. This pattern repeats for each package. All strings MUST be valid UTF-8. There is no NULL terminator or any other padding between values.

Following the index metadata is the raw resource values. Values occur in the order they were referenced in the index. There is no padding between values. Values can contain any arbitrary byte sequence.

Example (without literal integer encoding and spaces for legibility):

2                          # There are 2 packages total.

(3, 1)                     # Length of 1st package name is 3 and it has 1 resource.
(3, 42)                    # 1st resource has name length 3 and is 42 bytes long.

(4, 2)                     # Length of 2nd package name is 4 and it has 2 resources.
(5, 128)                   # 1st resource has name length 5 and is 128 bytes long.
(8, 1024)                  # 2nd resource has name length 8 and is 1024 bytes long.

foo                        # 1st package is named "foo"
bar                        # 1st resource name is "bar"
acme                       # 2nd package is named "acme"
hello                      # 1st resource name is "hello"
blahblah                   # 2nd resource name is "blahblah"

foo.bar raw data           # 42 bytes of raw data for "foo.bar".
acme.hello                 # 128 bytes of raw data for "acme.hello".
acme.blahblah              # 1024 bytes of raw data for "acme.blahblah"

Rationale for the design of this data format is similar to the reasons given for Packed Modules Data above.