Compile CPython on Windows — Unofficial Python Development (Victor's notes) documentation (original) (raw)
http://bugs.python.org/issue30350
People¶
People who understands these things.
- Steve Dower: employed by Microsoft, he is the maintainer of the Windows installer for 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9 and master branches
- Zachary Ware
- Jeremy Kloth
Build Python on Windows¶
Command:
PCbuild\build.bat -e -d -p x64
Options:
-e: download external dependencies (OpenSSL, Tkinter, …)-d: build in debug mode (Py_DEBUG, enable assertions, …)-p x64: build in 64-bit mode
Build a Windows VM¶
- Windows 10 or newer is recommended. Get a “multi-version” of Windows 10 (no N, KN or VL variant) and use a “Pro - Retail” product key.
- At least 60 GB of disk space is needed: Windows needs 15-20 GB, Visual Studio needs 10 GB. Having at least 60 GB is recommended to be able to compile multiple Python versions, install other tools, upgrade Windows, etc.
Python and Visual Studio version matrix¶
For Python 3.7 and later, VS 2017 is recommended (Community Edition is plenty), minimum installer options:
- Workload: only [x] “Desktop development with C++”
- Language pack: [x] “English”
VS 2019 installer option:
- Desktop: [x] Desktop development with C++
- Invidial components:
- [x] MSVC v142 VS 2019 C++ x64/x86 build …
- [x] Windows 10 SDK
- [x] Just-In Time debugger
| Python version | Visual Studio |
|---|---|
| Python 2.7 | VS 2008 and VS 2010 |
| Python 3.4 | VS 2010 |
| Python 3.5 and 3.6 | VS 2015 (or newer) |
| Python 3.7 | VS 2017 |
| Python 3.8 | VS 2017 |
| Python 3.9 | VS 2017 |
| Python 3.10 (master) | VS 2017 |
python.exe binaries delivered by python.org:
- Python 2.7.x (64-bit): [MSC v.1500 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32 – VS 2008
- Python 3.4.x (64-bit): [MSC v.1600 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32 – VS 2010
- Python 3.5.x (64-bit): [MSC v.1900 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32 – VS 2015
- Python 3.6.x (64-bit): [MSC v.1900 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32 – VS 2015
- Python 3.7.x (64-bit): [MSC v.1914 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32 – VS 2017
- Python 3.8.x (64-bit): [MSC v.1914 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32 – VS 2017
- Python 3.9.x (64-bit): [MSC v.1914 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32 – VS 2017
- Python 3.10.x (64-bit): [MSC v.1914 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32 – VS 2017
Dependencies¶
Python master needs binary dependencies fromgithub.com/python/cpython-bin-deps and source dependencies from github.com/python/cpython-source-deps.PCbuild\get_externals.bat, which is called automatically byPCbuild\build.bat, will take care of fetching these for you if you have any of Git, Python, NuGet, or PowerShell available.
See PCbuild\get_externals.bat to learn what to put where if you aren’t using PCbuild\build.bat.
Compile the master branch¶
To build the Python interpreter and all extension modules, including the ssl extension:
Requirements:
- Visual Studio 2017 or newer
- CPython source code: get it using Git, or download a ZIP on GitHub.com
Compile 64-bit Debug Python in the command line:
PCBuild\build.bat -p x64 -d
Compile Python in the IDE: open the PCbuild\pcbuild.sln solution in Visual Studio.
See also: PCbuild\readme.txt.
Compile CPython 2.7¶
Python 2.7 is stuck forever on Visual Studio 2008 to not break the ABI, to keep the backward compatibility with all built extensions on the Python cheeseshop (PyPI). Obtaining VS 2008 is not nearly as simple or straightforward as it used to be and Python 2.7 is rapidly approaching the end of its support period. If you don’t absolutely have to, we recommend not bothering to set things up to build 2.7!
Compile CPython 2.7 on Windows using Visual Studio 2008 and 2010¶
While Visual Studio 2008 alone is enough to build a full Python 2.7 binary with all standard extension modules, the standard method used to build 2.7 now requires installing both Visual Studio 2008 and Visual Studio 2010.
Requirements:
- MSDN account to get Visual Studio 2008. Maybe it’s possible to build Python using the Express edition of VS 2008 and 2010, but in 2017, it became difficult to get VS 2008 and 2010 Express.
- Windows 10 or newer is recommended, even if Python 2.7 is supposed to support Windows XP!
- Visual Studio 2008 Professional. Visual Studio 2008 Express works too, but doesn’t provide a 64-bit compiler.
- Visual Studio 2010 Professional. Maybe a lighter flavor works, I didn’t try.
Compile 64-bit Debug Python in the command line:
PCBuild\build.bat -p x64 -d
Compile Python in the IDE: open the PCbuild\pcbuild.sln solution in Visual Studio.
See also: PCbuild\readme.txt.
Compile CPython 2.7 on Windows using only Visual Studio 2008¶
Similar to the previous section, but don’t install Visual Studio 2010: only install Visual Studio 2008.
Compile 64-bit Debug Python in the command line:
PC\VS9.0\build.bat -p x64 -d -e
Compile Python in the IDE: open the PC\VS9.0\pcbuild.sln solution in Visual Studio.
See also: PC\VS9.0\readme.txt.
Note that this configuration is not well tested. Everything should work, but if it does not, please feel free to submit a patch! Also, if you use both methods and notice significant differences between them, we’d like to hear about those as well.
Windows Subsystem for Linux: WSL¶
Ubuntu running on Windows 10 using a thin layer to emulate the Linux kernel on top of the Windows kernel. Building Python in this environment is just the same as building on any other UNIXy system.