How to install Python package from source on Windows

[Chris Angelico]

On Tue, May 16, 2017 at 8:50 AM, Pavol Lisy <pavol.lisy at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 5/15/17, Chris Angelico <rosuav at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> 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.
>
> Don't forget that 640 kB was too big too! ;)
>
> (and compiler as service is also possibility)

Compiler As A Service is actually a very real possibility, and one
that's been explored at times. But it's more of a packaging question
than anything else; it's a means of simplifying the work of producing
those wheel files. Once the wheels are built, anyone can already
install them without a compiler (of course, you have to trust the
wheel builder, since you're now installing a binary blob on your
computer). There's not a lot of point having end users use CaaS; if
you're making custom software or an unusual system, it's easier to get
your own compiler than to match a host somewhere, and if you're using
something completely standard, there's no need to reinvent - or
rebuild - the wheel.

ChrisA