Help me choose a C++ compiler to work with Python

[achrist at easystreet.com]

d2003xx wrote:
> 
> > I use Windows XP and 98.  Have very little experience with C++.  Am
> > doing statistical and other simulations that require billions of
> > calculations (taking 1 to 2 hours in Excel VBA).  GCC is free, MS
> > C++.Net is affordable
> 

It is equally trivial to connect Python to Delphi using ctypes.
Delphi can easily make a DLL that looks to the outside world like
C.  I have found Delphi to be maybe a little bit slower than MS C,
but a little faster than gcc.  They are all pretty close on speed,
so you can't really pick a winner a priori.  If you are doing VBA
now, can't you buy the entry-level version of VB for around 100
bucks and create C-callable DLL's?

Al