Python.h header file missing on Mac OS X 10.6

Question

I'm trying to access a shared C library in Python with ctypes on Mac OS X 10.6.8 with Python 2.7.4. To do this, I need to #include <Python.h> in my C code. If I try to compile a C script that only has that one include statement in it, call it "sample.c", I get:

$ gcc -shared -o sample.so sample.c
sample.c:1:20: error: Python.h: No such file or directory

Since I'm running Mac 10.6, I have Xcode 3.2.6, the latest version available on this iteration of OS X without paying to upgrade to 10.7 and getting Xcode 4. Is there a way to get the Python header file without upgrading my OS?

Answer 1

Python is a framework on Mac OS X so you need to,

#include <Python/Python.h>

You also need to call gcc with the -framework argument to actually do anything inside C,

gcc -shared -o sample.so sample.c -framework Python

Answer 2

I'm not sure about 10.6.8, but Python.h should be in

/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/include/python2.7

if you installed the official python.org binary. Try adding

-I/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/include/python2.7

to your gcc command and see if that works.

Answer 3

In case you have installed Python using Brew, it may be worthwhile to check the location of where your headers are. Try I/usr/local/Cellar/python/...

Answer 4

Another way is to add `python-config --include` to the gcc call. It will expand to -I/usr/..., so

gcc -shared -o sample.so sample.c `python-config --include`

Also other options can be retrieved, such as `python-config --cflags --ldflags`.