[Distutils] Building Python extensions on 64-bit Windows using the SDK compilers

[Steve Dower]

Chris Barker wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 24, 2014 at 6:55 AM, Paul Moore <p.f.moore at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Thanks for the pointer. (Also thanks to Allen Riddell). I'll take a
>> look. Ideally, what I'd like to do is write something up to help
>> non-Windows experts get things up and running, so this will be very
>> useful.
> 
> Thanks -- that would be great. But really, why is this so hard? Win64 is
> essentially One platform, and the freely available SDK is ONE compiler
> environment.
> 
> surely it's possible to write a batch script of some sort that you could put
> somewhere (or even deliver with python! ) so this would be:
> 
> 1) download and install THIS (the sdk from MS)
> 
> 2) run:
> set_up_win_complier.py
> 
> 3) build the package:
> python setup.py build
> 
> without needing to do multiple step, without needing to be in the special set-up
> command Window, etc.
> 
> In fact, even better would be for distutils to run the mythical
> "set_up_win_complier.py" script for you.
> 
> distutils does work "out of the box" with the VS2008 Express for 32 bit -- I'm
> still confused why this is so much harder for 64 bit.

Someone made a decision back when that express edition was released that people who _needed_ 64-bit compilers could justify paying for them. At the time (pre-Windows 7, which was the first usable 64-bit Windows), this made sense, but the world has changed since then and so have the later versions of VC++ Express/Express for Desktop, which now include all the compilers.

> *sigh*

As I mentioned at the start of this thread - hold your frustration and wait for a little while :)

Cheers,
Steve

> -Chris
>