How to build Python 3.4.6 from source?

Question

I want to install Python 3.4.6 but it is only available in source code format.

The install options on the official Python website are Gzip'd source tarball and XZ compressed source tarball. I have never installed Python this way before so I don't know what to do. How do I install Python and what file do I download?

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-346/

Answer 1

1. Download the source as a .tar.gz
2. Extract the source using a program such as 7-Zip
3. Follow the instructions in PCbuild\readme.txt

You will need Visual Studio 2010 Express, which is becoming increasingly hard to find. See the comments in this question for a link to download it. You can also try Visual Studio Community 2017, which will probably work as well. All that you really need to do is open a solution and click build.

Answer 2

The Python 3.4 branch is in security fixes only mode. This means that only security fixes will be accepted on this branch, no more non-critical bug fixes. New releases on this branch are source-only, no binaries will be provided. See the official announcement.

If you really need a python 3.4.6 binary for windows, you will have to compile it yourself. But if you're new to python and just want to try or learn python, there's no reason why you couldn't use version 3.4.4, or 3.6.x.