GH-92584: Redirect to Setuptools' guidance on extension modules

Doc/extending/building.rst

@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+..
+   The guides to building C and C++ extensions are fairly out of date
+   and would benefit from re-writing in terms of a simple primer,
+   with specific reference to sysconfig, and how a modules can be build
+   'by hand', rather than via setuptools, CMake, meson, etc.
+   If you're reading this and would like to have a go, please do!
+   See https://github.com/python/cpython/issues/108064 for discussion.
+
 .. highlight:: c
 
 .. _building:
@@ -45,13 +53,15 @@ See the *"Multiple modules in one library"* section in :pep:`489` for details.
 
 .. highlight:: c
 
+.. _building-on-windows:
 .. _install-index:
 .. _setuptools-index:
 
 Building C and C++ Extensions with setuptools
 =============================================
 
 Python 3.12 and newer no longer come with distutils. Please refer to the
-``setuptools`` documentation at
-https://setuptools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/setuptools.html
+``setuptools`` documentation for `building extension modules`_
 to learn more about how build and distribute C/C++ extensions with setuptools.
+
+.. _building extension modules: https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/userguide/ext_modules.html

Doc/extending/extending.rst

@@ -458,10 +458,9 @@ Compilation and Linkage
 
 There are two more things to do before you can use your new extension: compiling
 and linking it with the Python system.  If you use dynamic loading, the details
-may depend on the style of dynamic loading your system uses; see the chapters
-about building extension modules (chapter :ref:`building`) and additional
-information that pertains only to building on Windows (chapter
-:ref:`building-on-windows`) for more information about this.
+may depend on the style of dynamic loading your system uses; see the chapter
+about building extension modules (chapter :ref:`building`)
+for more information about this.
 
 If you can't use dynamic loading, or if you want to make your module a permanent
 part of the Python interpreter, you will have to change the configuration setup

Doc/extending/index.rst

@@ -57,7 +57,6 @@ C extensions.
    newtypes_tutorial.rst
    newtypes.rst
    building.rst
-   windows.rst
 
 Embedding the CPython runtime in a larger application
 =====================================================

Doc/using/windows.rst

@@ -1266,8 +1266,6 @@ releases. These files are in the :file:`PCbuild` directory.
 
 Check :file:`PCbuild/readme.txt` for general information on the build process.
 
-For extension modules, consult :ref:`building-on-windows`.
-
 
 Other Platforms
 ===============

Include/pyport.h

@@ -528,7 +528,7 @@ extern char * _getpty(int *, int, mode_t, int);
         /* public Python functions and data are imported */
         /* Under Cygwin, auto-import functions to prevent compilation */
         /* failures similar to those described at the bottom of 4.1: */
-        /* http://docs.python.org/extending/windows.html#a-cookbook-approach */
+        /* https://docs.python.org/3.2/extending/windows.html#a-cookbook-approach */
 #                       if !defined(__CYGWIN__)
 #                               define PyAPI_FUNC(RTYPE) Py_IMPORTED_SYMBOL RTYPE
 #                       endif /* !__CYGWIN__ */