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Asked: 2026-06-17T06:28:44+00:00

There’s a lot about python that I just don’t understand, so forgive me if

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There’s a lot about python that I just don’t understand, so forgive me if this is an overly basic question.

I run python 2.7 on windows and when installing a package using setuptools’ setup.py, I often run in to the following error: error: Unable to find vcvarsall.bat which is an issue discussed all over the place, including here: Python issue:Unable to find vcvarsall.bat and here: http://blog.eddsn.com/2010/05/unable-to-find-vcvarsall-bat/

My question is, if python is an interpreted language, why do you even need a compiler to install a package?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Python is interpreted, but many libraries use compiled C extensions. The error you are seeing occurs when the auto-installer is unable to compile the C extensions for a given package.

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