[Python-Dev] Microsoft Visual C++ Compiler for Python 2.7

[Georg Brandl]

I just tried out the compiler and built wininst and wheel dists. Thanks!

distutils was *almost* fine using it, but for two snags:

* I had to set VS90COMNTOOLS

* distutils expects vcvarsall.bat in VC, while you have it in the parent dir

The first could be set by the installer of your package.  But if it is not
feasible to do so, setting an envvar is something that developers can surely
be expected to do with instruction.

The second is a little more inconvenient.  Wouldn't it be possible to put
the .bat file in the "right" folder, or if it has to be there, put *another*
one in "VC"?  (That is what I did.)

cheers,
Georg

On 09/27/2014 05:16 PM, Steve Dower wrote:
> Plain distutils won't detect it. It would be easy enough to fix 2.7.9, but
> "update Python" is a big/impossible ask for a lot of people, whereas "update
> setuptools" is easy and also covers Python 2.6 and <3.3.
> 
> The compiler installer can't set the keys that distutils looks for without
> losing the per-user installation, and it may also corrupt actual installs of
> Visual Studio. A monkey patch via setuptools was the best way to handle this -
> covers pip and Cython and can be ported to other libraries that care but avoid
> setuptools.
> 
> Now that we have a patch, there's very limited value in fixing 2.7.9, IMO. But
> I'm willing to be convinced - we can always add a version check to the
> setuptools patch.
> 
> Cheers,
> Steve