[FR] Compile Shared Library

What's the problem this feature will solve?

As discussed in #2806 and in this stack overflow post there is demand for compiling dynamic libraries as part of the setuptools build process and then linking against them in python extensions or using them with ctypes or other tools.

I believe currently people either pre-compile the shared library before or have a hacky extension to setuptools.

Describe the solution you'd like

I would like to propose that setuptools adds native support for compiling shared libraries as part of the build process.

I don't know exactly how this would be implemented but my though process was that another command would be added eg build_shared_clib to complement the existing build_clib and another argument would be added to setup() eg shared_libraries to compliment libraries

Alternative Solutions

Compile the shared library separately.
Manual plugin like in the stack overflow post.
https://github.com/mdavidsaver/setuptools_dso

Additional context

I would be interested in helping getting such a feature implemented.
Is this something that setuptools would be interested in merging?

Code of Conduct

• I agree to follow the PSF Code of Conduct

Start by reading the existing build_clib command and setup()'s libraries argument to understand how native libraries are currently built and linked. Define the scope for a complementary build_shared_clib command and shared_libraries argument, including how the resulting libraries are used by Python extensions or ctypes; the feature is done when shared libraries can be compiled as part of the setuptools build process.