Python & C#: Is IronPython absolutely necessary?

Question

I'm primarily a C# programmer, but have been left with a project that leaves me with 2 options:

Call out to a python script (saved as a .py file) and process the return value, OR...
Rewrite the whole python script (involving 6 .py files in total) in C#.

Naturally, Option 2 is a MAJOR waste of time if I can simply implement Option 1. Moreover, Option 1 is a learning opportunity, while Option 2 is a total geek copout.

So, my question is this: Is there a way to build a C# Process object to trigger the .py file's script AND catch the script's return value without using IronPython? I don't have anything against possibly using IronPython, I just need a solution as soon as possible, so if I can sidestep the I.P. learning curve until I have less urgent work to do, that would be optimal.

Thanks.

Option 3. Rewrite the whole C# app in python :) – Mark Thomas Sep 29 '10 at 17:10 — Mark Thomas, Sep 29 '10 at 17:10

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 29 '10 at 16:58

Use Process.Start to run the Python script. In the ProcessStartInfo object, you specify:

FileName = the path and file name of the Python script.
Arguments = any arguments that you want to pass to the script.
RedirectStandardOutput = true (and RedirectStandardError if needed)
UseShellExecute = false

Then you get a Process object on which you can do some things, in particular:

Use Process.StandardOutput to read the Python script’s output. You could, for example, call ReadToEnd() on this to get a single string containing the entire output, or call ReadLine() in a loop.
Use Process.ExitCode to read the return code of the script.
Use Process.WaitForExit to wait for the script to finish.

performance-wise, is there a difference between using IronPython and calling the script with Process.Start ? — gl3yn, Jul 04 '23 at 09:30

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 29 '10 at 16:53

Use System.Diagnostics.Process to run the Python script and then use Process.ExitCode to retrieve the return value of the script once it's done:

// Start the script
var process = System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("python MyScript.py");

// Wait for the script to run
process.WaitForExit();

int returnVal = process.ExitCode;

score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Sep 29 '10 at 17:35

You can do something like:

Process py = new Process();
py.StartInfo.FileName = "python.exe";
py.StartInfo.Arguments = "c:\\python\\script.py";
py.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
py.StartInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
py.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
py.OutputDataReceived += new DataReceivedEventHandler(OutputHandler);
py.Start();
py.BeginOutputReadLine();
py.WaitForExit();
py.Close();

But, I must say that you can have multiple systems, based in different languages, since they can understand what each one says. I mean, there're some standards that can be thought to glue the whole thing. The python system can feed the C# system with JSON, XML, or some other standard, in a webservice built in Python, for example. Sometimes it's better to review your architecture.

Python & C#: Is IronPython absolutely necessary?

3 Answers3

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