Choosing a Windows C compiler for use with Cython and 32-bit Python 2.7

[Christian Heimes]

Am 23.11.2011 13:11, schrieb python at bdurham.com:
> Looking for some tips on getting started with Cython development
> under Windows. I am using Python 2.7.2.
> 
> After reading the Cython documentation [1] it appears that one
> has a choice of using either the MinGW or MS Visual C compiler.
> 
> 1. Are there any issues associated with using the MinGW compiler
> and mixing C runtimes? This seems the be the simplest and fastest
> way to get started with the tradeoff being the need to distribute
> another C runtime (in addition to the MS C runtime required for
> the Python interpreter itself)

No, don't worry. MinGW from msys can link against almost any C runtime
library.

> 2. Regarding the MS Visual C compiler - can one use the C
> compiler that ships with one of the free Express editions of
> Visual Studio or must one purchase a full version of MS Visual
> Studio to get the appropriate compiler?
> 
> 3. Which version (2005, 2008, 2010, ...) of MS Visual Studio is
> required to compile Cython libraries compatible with the 32 bit
> version of Python 2.7.2?

I've explained everything in PCbuild/readme.txt in great detail.
Summary: You can use the free VS 2088 Express Edition if you don't need
PGO or AMD64 builds.

Christian