I have Python on my Ubuntu system, but gcc can't find Python.h

Question

I am on a school computer, so I can't install anything.

I am trying to create C code which can be run in Python. It seems all the articles I am finding on it require you to use

#include <Python.h> 

I do this, but when I compile it complains that there is no such file or directory.

The computer has Python (at least it has the python command in the terminal, and we can run whatever Python code we want).

I typed in locate Python.h in the terminal, but it found nothing.

I have two questions:

1. Can I write C code that I can call in Python without Python.h?

2. Am I missing something, and the computer actually has Python.h?

Answer 1

You need the python-dev package which contains Python.h

Answer 2

On Ubuntu, you would need to install a package called python-dev. Since this package doesn't seem to be installed (locate Python.h didn't find anything) and you can't install it system-wide yourself, we need a different solution.

You can install Python in your home directory -- you don't need any special permissions to do this. If you are allowed to use a web browser and run a gcc, this should work for you. To this end

1. Download the source tarball.

2. Unzip with

   tar xjf Python-2.7.2.tar.bz2 

3. Build and install with

   cd Python-2.7.2 ./configure --prefix=/home/username/python --enable-unicode=ucs4 make make install 

Now, you have a complete Python installation in your home directory. Pass -I /home/username/python/include to gcc when compiling to make it aware of Python.h. Pass -L /home/username/python/lib and -lpython2.7 when linking.