Best way to package a Python library that includes a C shared library?

Question

I have written a library whose main functionality is implemented in C (speed is critical), with a thin Python layer around it to deal with the ctypes nastiness.

Answer 1

I'd consider building the python module as a subproject of a normal shared library build. So, use automake, autoconf or something like that to build the shared library, have a python_bindings directory with a setup.py and your python module.