ActiveState Community

What compilers are used to compile ActivePython?

Posted by kevinw on 2006-07-10 15:26
OS: All / Any | Product: ActivePython | tags: activepython compiler
Question:

What compilers are used to compile ActivePython? Why?

Answer:

By using the versions of Visual Studio that we do (VS6 for Python 2.3, VS7 for Python 2.4), we keep binary compatibility with extensions for the Python.org distribution of the language. Our choice of build environment will continue to follow the lead of the community to ensure this compatibility remains.

There was a thread on the Python-Dev mailing list about switching build environments to VS2005. After some back-and-forth, this message told at least part of the story why it's not going to happen right now.

I would imagine that we will keep following the lead of the Python.org community to make sure we are compatible, and that binary extensions will continue to be useful for everyone.