<s>
SIP	B-Application
is	O
an	O
open	B-Application
source	I-Application
software	I-Application
tool	O
used	O
to	O
connect	O
computer	B-Application
programs	I-Application
or	O
libraries	B-Library
written	O
in	O
C	B-Language
or	O
C++	B-Language
with	O
the	O
scripting	B-Language
language	I-Language
Python	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
an	O
alternative	O
to	O
SWIG	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
SIP	B-Application
was	O
originally	O
developed	O
in	O
1998	O
for	O
PyQt	B-Language
—	O
the	O
Python	B-Language
bindings	O
for	O
the	O
Qt	B-Language
GUI	O
toolkit	O
—	O
but	O
is	O
suitable	O
for	O
generating	O
bindings	O
for	O
any	O
C	B-Language
or	O
C++	B-Language
library	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SIP	B-Application
takes	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
specification	O
(	O
)	O
files	O
describing	O
the	O
API	B-General_Concept
and	O
generates	O
the	O
required	O
C++	B-Language
code	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
then	O
compiled	O
to	O
produce	O
the	O
Python	B-Language
extension	O
modules	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
.sip	O
file	O
is	O
essentially	O
the	O
class	O
header	O
file	O
with	O
some	O
things	O
removed	O
(	O
because	O
SIP	B-Application
does	O
not	O
include	O
a	O
full	O
C++	B-Language
parser	O
)	O
and	O
some	O
things	O
added	O
(	O
because	O
C++	B-Language
does	O
not	O
always	O
provide	O
enough	O
information	O
about	O
how	O
the	O
API	B-General_Concept
works	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
