WIP: apply suggestions from code review

Co-authored-by: Daniele Nicolodi <[email protected]>

Author: rgommers

docs/how-to-guides/shared-libraries.rst

@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ the lack of RPATH support:
 
 If an internal shared library is not only used as part of a Python package, but
 for example also as a regular shared library in a C/C++ project or as a
-standalone library, then the method shown above won't work. The library is`
+standalone library, then the method shown above won't work. The library is
 then marked for installation into the system default ``libdir`` location.
 Actually installing into ``libdir`` isn't possible with wheels, hence
 ``meson-python`` will instead do the following *on platforms other than
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ RPATH entry - and Meson will not automatically manage RPATH entries for you.
 Hence you'll need to add the needed RPATH yourself, for example by adding
 ``-Wl,rpath=/path/to/dir/sharedlib/is/in`` to ``LDFLAGS`` before starting
 the build. In case you run into this problem after a wheel is built and
-installed, adding that same path to ``LD_LIBRARY_PATH`` is a quick way of
+installed, adding that same path to the ``LD_LIBRARY_PATH`` environment variable is a quick way of
 checking if that is indeed the problem.
 
 On Windows, the solution is similar - the shared library can either be

tests/packages/sharedlib-in-package/mypkg/__init__.py

@@ -9,29 +9,28 @@
 # start-literalinclude
 def _enable_sharedlib_loading():
     """
-    Ensure the shared libraries in this dir and the ``sub`` subdir can be
-    loaded on Windows.
-
-    One shared library is installed alongside this ``__init__.py`` file.
-    Windows can load it because it searches for DLLs in the directory where a
-    ``.pyd`` (Python extension module) is located in. Cygwin does not though.
-    For a shared library in another directory inside the package, Windows also
-    needs a hint.
-
-    This function is Windows-specific due to lack of RPATH support on Windows.
-    It cannot find shared libraries installed within wheels unless we either
-    amend the DLL search path or pre-load the DLL.
-
-    Note that ``delvewheel`` inserts a similar snippet into the main
-    ``__init__.py`` of a package when it vendors external shared libraries.
+    Ensure the shared libraries in this package loaded on Windows.
+    
+    Windows lacks a concept equivalent to RPATH: Python extension modules cannot 
+    find DLLs installed outside the DLL search path. This function ensured that the 
+    location of the shared libraries distributed with this Python wheel is in the DLL
+    search path of the process.
+    
+    The Windows DLL search path includes the object depending on it is located:
+    the DLL search path needs to be augmented only when the Python extension
+    modules and the DLLs they require are installed in separate directories.
+    Cygwin does not have the same default library search path: all locations where
+    the shared libraries are installed need to be added to the search path.
+
+    This function is very similar to the snippet inserted into the main ``__init__.py``
+    of a package by ``delvewheel`` when it vendors external shared libraries.
 
     .. note::
 
-        `os.add_dll_directory` is only available for Python >=3.8, and with
-        the Conda ``python`` packages only works as advertised for >=3.10.
-        If you require support for older versions, pre-loading the DLL
-        with `ctypes.WinDLL` may be preferred (the SciPy code base has an
-        example of this).
+        `os.add_dll_directory` is only available for Python 3.8 and later, and in
+        the Conda ``python`` packages it works as advertised only  for version 
+        3.10 and later. For older Python versions, pre-loading the DLLs with 
+        `ctypes.WinDLL` may be preferred.
     """
     basedir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
     subdir = os.path.join(basedir, 'sub')