Preparing for installation on Windows¶

We explain here how to prepare a proper Python development environment for use with Reahl on Windows. When you’ve done this, you still need to install Reahl itself in a virtualenv – (but that’s a one-liner).

Python and basic development tools¶

On Windows, you need to install Python and a number of standard Python development tools.

Installing all of this is explained excellently on The Hitchhiker’s guide to Python.

Here is the super-short summary:

Download Python from the official website (version 2.7 or 3.3), and install it.
Ensure that your path includes both the directory where the Python executable is located as well as Python’s “Scripts” directory.
Install setuptools:
- download ez_setup.py from the setuptools project on bitbucket.
- run ez_setup.py (right-click, then choose “Open with > Python”)
Install virtualenv (don’t bother with pip, it cannot install binary packages needed for Windows):
- In a command prompt window, execute:
easy_install virtualenv