Visual studio compiler versions¶

Here is a list of Visual Studio /Visual C++ version numbers, the value ofthe defined_MSC_VER during compilation, the alternative year-based name,and the C / C++ runtime library.

For sources on version numbers /_MSC_VER:

• a stackoverflow table;

• asourceforge wiki page on compilers;

• stackoverflow answer on VC and Python.

For VC runtime libraries:

• alist of VS versions / CRTS;

• ahistory of the MS CRTS;

• the MSC runtime library pages;

• List of versions / _MSC_VER values.

For a discussion of the genericMSVCRT.DLL compared to the DLLs specificto the VC version, seethis blog post.See alsothese comments on using MSVCRT.DLL from Mingw-w64.

For 2015, MS split the C runtime into two component libraries. See:

• blog post on thethe universal CRT

• Steve Dower’s first blog post:Python 3.5 extensions part 1;

• Steve’s second blog post:Python 3.5 extensions part 2;

The CRT components are:

• ucrtbase.dl: “The Universal CRT (UCRT) contains the functions andglobals exported by the standard C99 CRT library. The UCRT is now a Windowscomponent, and ships as part of Windows 10.” (seeCRT 2015).

• vcruntime140.dll : “The vcruntime library contains Visual C++ CRTimplementation-specific code, such as exception handling and debuggingsupport, runtime checks and type information, implementation details andcertain extended library functions. This library is specific to the versionof the compiler used.” (CRT 2015);

The C++ runtime for VS2015 isMSVCP140.dll (CRT 2015).

The C++ runtime for VS2017 is alsoMSVCP140.dll, but, for version 15.6,there is an additionalMSVCP140_1.dll, ABI compatible withMSVCP140.dll, but with additional standard library functionality; seethis MSVC page.

Visual Studio versions used to compile distributed Python binaries¶

See:http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12028762/what-version-of-visual-studio-and-or-mingw-do-i-need-to-build-extension-modules

and:http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9047072/windows-python-version-and-vc-redistributable-version

The version of Visual Studio is described inreadme.txt in thePCBuildfolder of the source distribution. The full Visual C++ version number is ineitherrelease.vsprops orrelease.props. I read these files from theCPython Hg web interface for eachtagged release, up to Python 3.6, and thence, from theCPython Githubrepository.

Installing free versions of Microsoft Visual C / C++¶

msiexec/iVCForPython27.msiALLUSERS=1

echo"C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.1\Bin\SetEnv.cmd"/x64>"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\VC\bin\amd64/vcvars64.bat"

python-c'import setuptools; print(setuptools.__version__)'

pipinstall--upgradesetuptools

Other options for MSVC installation¶

If the VS for Python 2.7 installer doesn’t work for you, or you can’t get VS2010 compilation working for 3.3 / 3.4, see the links below.

In overview, you may be able to find the free Visual Studio express downloadthat you need on the Microsoft site, but until VS 2015, these do not compile64-bit extensions by default. The instructions above give the easiest way toget 64-bit compiles working, but you can also try the other methods given inthe links below.

Some older links on installing MSVC¶

Here are some links that were useful at some point:

• Cython windows wiki page.This has more on configuration for 64-bit in particular.

• VS downloads

• VS 2010 SDK

• How to configure VS 10.0 for 64 bit

• VS 2008 download

• Somerelevant instructions from a MATLAB userfor getting the VS 2008 SDK set up (the default downloads will refuse toinstall onto VS express).

• How to configure VS 9.0 for 64 bit