[Python-Dev] Status of C compilers for Python on Windows

[Paul Moore]

On 29 October 2014 20:26, Donald Stufft <donald at stufft.io> wrote:
> This sounds like something good for packaging.python.org

Yeah, I wondered about that. I'll work up a patch for that. But the
more I think about it, it really is trivial:

- For non-free MSVC, install the appropriate version, and everything just works.
- For Python 2.7 (32 or 64 bit), install the compiler for Python 2.7
package and everything just works as long as you're using setuptools.
- For 32 bit Python 3.2-3.4, install Visual Studio Express and
everything just works.
- For 64 bit Python 3.2-3.4, install the SDK, set some environment
variables, and everything just works.
- For Python 3.5+, install the current Visual Studion Express and
everything just works.

(I propose to deem Python 2.7 without setuptools as "unsupported")

The only things I can see that need expansion are:

1. The precise versions to use (trivial to add, I'm just to lazy to
check right now).
2. Where to get VS 2010 Express (as it's no longer supported or
available from MS).
3. How to set up the SDK environment for 64-bit Python 3.2-3.4.

Before I do a write-up, I want to set up clean VMs with these
configurations, so that I can confirm the details. But I don't expect
any problems, as I've done them all before.

Paul.