python pip installable vowpal wabbit package

.gitignore

@@ -93,3 +93,9 @@ VW.creator.user
 VW.files
 VW.includes
 
+# Python package
+build/**
+dist/**
+pyvw.egg-info/**
+python/pyvw.egg-info/**
+

MANIFEST.in

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+include Makefile Makefile.am configure.ac
+recursive-include vowpalwabbit *.cc *.h *.config Makefile Makefile.am
+recursive-include python *.cc Makefile
+recursive-include explore *.h *.config Makefile

setup.cfg

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[metadata]
+description-file = README.md
+

setup.py

@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+import os
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+from setuptools import setup, Extension
+from setuptools.command.build_ext import build_ext as _build_ext
+from distutils.command.clean import clean as _clean
+
+VERSION = None
+with open("configure.ac") as f:
+    for line in f:
+        line = line.strip()
+        if 'AC_INIT(' in line:
+            VERSION = line.split(",")[1].replace("[", "").replace("]", "").strip()
+
+if not VERSION:
+    raise Exception("VowPal Wabbit version not found in '%s'" % CONFIG_H)
+
+
+class VWBuildExt(_build_ext):
+    def build_extension(self, ext):
+        subprocess.check_call(["make", "python"])
+        target_dir = os.path.dirname(self.get_ext_fullpath(ext.name))
+        if not os.path.isdir(target_dir):
+            os.makedirs(target_dir)
+        shutil.copy(os.path.join("python", "%s.so" % ext.name), self.get_ext_fullpath(ext.name))
+
+
+class VWClean(_clean):
+    def run(self):
+        _clean.run(self)
+        subprocess.check_call(["make", "clean"])
+
+
+pylibvw = Extension('pylibvw', sources=['python/pylibvw.cc'])
+
+setup(
+    name="pyvw",
+    version=VERSION,
+    url="https://github.com/JohnLangford/vowpal_wabbit",
+    maintainer="trbs",
+    maintainer_email="trbs@trbs.net",
+    description="test",
+    package_dir={'': 'python'},
+    py_modules=['pyvw'],
+    ext_modules=[pylibvw],
+    cmdclass={
+        'build_ext': VWBuildExt,
+        'clean': VWClean,
+    },
+    classifiers=[
+        'Development Status :: 3 - Alpha',
+        'Intended Audience :: Developers',
+        'License :: OSI Approved :: BSD License',
+        'Topic :: Scientific/Engineering',
+    ],
+)