How to install Python package from source on Windows

[Chris Angelico]

On Tue, May 16, 2017 at 7:01 AM, Deborah Swanson
<python at deborahswanson.net> wrote:
> But I'm a little more mystified that official Python builds are leaning
> on Visual C++ (and that's what the crutch comment was primarily aimed
> at). Perhaps they're just as resource needy as the extension developers
> are and new requirements have come up as Python 3 progresses that they
> don't already have Python build and installation tools written and
> tested for. I'd be willing to step into that void when my Python skills
> are equal to the task (and my health permitting, of course). But that
> would be years from now, and maybe someone else will step up before
> then. I'm really thinking that build has languished far behind the rest
> of the language's development for way too long.
>
>
> Maybe I have more pride in the Python language than is right and proper,
> but I do think it would be worth the relatively small investment to make
> and start growing Python's own build and installation tools asap. Python
> will be the reigning Queen of coding languages someday. Certainly seems
> like she should have all her own working parts and be beholden to no
> one. ;)

You seem to be of the opinion that some day, binary executables will
be compiled using pure Python code. Maybe that's true; maybe it's not.
The point is, though, that high performance binaries can't be created
without a LOT of expertise relating to the OS, the standard library,
the CPU architecture, etc, etc, etc. That expertise has been coalesced
into existing C compilers (I mentioned gcc, clang, and msvc earlier;
others also exist but those are the most popular), and throwing that
out means having a subpar Python.

Perhaps a future version of gcc will be implemented in Python. Would
you then say that Python is beholden to no one? You would still need
to have a C compiler installed in order to compile extension modules.
It's too big to include with every single Python installation. So
you'd have the same situation even then.

ChrisA