[Python-Dev] mingw support? (original) (raw)

Sturla Molden sturla at molden.no
Fri Aug 13 20:45:25 CEST 2010

The problem really is that when people ask for MingW support, they mean all kinds of things,

Usually it means they want to build C or C++ extensions, don't have Visual Studio, don't know about the SDK compiler, and have misunderstood the CRT problem.

As long at Python builds with the free Windows 7 SDK, I think it is sufficient to that mingw is supported for extensions (and the only reasons for selecing mingw over Microsoft C/C++ on windows are Fortran and C99 -- the Windows SDK compiler is a free download as well.)

Enthought (32-bit) ships with a mingw gcc compiler configured to build extensions. That might be something to consider for Python on Windows. It will prevent accidental linking with wrong libraries (particularly the CRT).

Sturla

More information about the Python-Dev mailing list