Python extensions on Win32

["Martin v. Löwis"]

Cliff Wells schrieb:
> 1) Is VC++ 2005 compatible with VC++ 2003?  

No. If you know very well how the extension module is written,
and what precisely the incompatibilities are, you may get away
with linking to msvcr8.dll, anyway.

> If not, how can someone
> acquire VC++ 2003 (aside from thepiratebay.org)?  The Microsoft site
> seems to be a dead end here unless you've put out for a spendy MSDN
> subscription.

As you say, getting it from MSDN is one option; another is to get
a used copy from Ebay. There used to be a free (as in beer) version
of the compiler binaries; some people use that.

> 2) If it is compatible, is there some specific incantation needed (env
> variables, etc) to make pycurl use it?

If you set the environment variables MSSdk and DISTUTILS_USE_SDK,
the distutils will use the compiler "cl.exe" in the PATH, regardless
of whether the resulting binary would work.

> 3) If this is a dead-end, will mingw32 work instead (the error message
> from pycurl implies it might, but I have doubts)?  Or will this only
> work with the cygwin version of Python?

No, the mingw binaries work fine with the pydotorg binaries of Python
2.5.

> 4) How much alcohol will be required to forget all this when I'm done?

You shouldn't forget it. Instead, you should write your experience
into "the Web", so that others have a flatter learning curve.

Regards,
Martin