32-bit or 64-bit Python on Windows

Thomas Phinney
Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,888
in Technique and Theory
I am setting up Windows 7 and 8.1 VMs on a new Mac. I went with 64-bit Windows on both.

When installing Python for typical fonty things with FontLab Studio, should I use 32-bit or 64-bit Python? I would have assumed 64-bit, but some sources say that for compatibility with "some" (unspecified) modules it is better to have 32-bit.

Thoughts? I expect I'll be running Python 2.7.6 with FontTools, TTX, RoboFab, DialogKit, and Vanilla.

Comments

  • Erik van Blokand
    Erik van Blokand Posts: 19
    I imagine FontLab itself will be the greatest factor in deciding which Python you need?

    I don't have first hand experience with 32 / 64 bit Pythons in FontLab on Windows on Mac, but I can say this:
    - Vanilla is a wrapper for Cocoa, so that won't work on Windows.
    - DialogKit is pure Python, so it doesn't matter.
    - So is RoboFab.
    - FontTools has a type1 reader/writer in C, but otherwise it should be bit-agnostic.

  • Adam Twardoch
    Adam Twardoch Posts: 515
    FontLab Studio 5.2.x for Windows is a 32-bit app so it always requires the 32-bit version of Python 2.7.x on all Windows versions (also on 64-bit Windows). This is the correct URL: https://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.7.6/python-2.7.6.msi
  • Thomas Phinney
    Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,888
    True enough, and it turns out FontLab Studio does require a 32-bit Python.

    Good point about Vanilla—which also means any scripts requiring it won't work on Windows. Not a huge deal as this is all on a host Mac anyway.

    Thanks!

    T

  • Deleted Account
    Deleted Account Posts: 739
    "Not a huge deal as this is all on a host Mac anyway."

    Seems odd to me though. With hinting being a windows-only issue, OT being a windows-owned issue, color fonts and size masters being new windows-first issues... but there is no chocolate to the Mac's vanilla. I'm still astonished that MS has made no move.

  • Jason Campbell
    Jason Campbell Posts: 100
    At the risk of getting slapped, if you use Tkinter it should work on Win or Mac. Yes?
  • Thomas Phinney
    Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,888
    I would think so—although I am just as concerned with compatibility with other people's scripts as writing my own.
  • Thomas Phinney
    Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,888
    As a kind of follow-on, I have been writing up detailed step-by-step install instructions for both Mac and Windows for the full set of FontLab Python add-ons, with pointers to the latest downloads and versions of things. There have been previous such instructions, but they were Mac-only, and are several years out of date now.

    Two questions:

    1) Anybody want to test out or critique my directions before I post them more publicly? Mac and/or Windows.

    2) Erik above says “ Vanilla is a wrapper for Cocoa, so that won't work on Windows. DialogKit is pure Python, so it doesn't matter.”

    Yet at http://www.robofab.org/talks09/dialogkit.html it says “DialogKit is a Python library for creating GUI dialogs in FontLab and Mac OS X Cocoa applications that have a Python layer. The library implements a subset of the Vanilla library....” So is DialogKit WIndows-compatible, or not?
  • George Thomas
    George Thomas Posts: 645
    edited June 2014
    "DialogKit is a Python library... The library implements a subset of the Vanilla library....”
    Based on that I would say DialogKit is not Windows-compatible.
  • Thomas Phinney
    Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,888
    edited June 2014
    That was my theory as well.

    But... it directly contradicts what Erik wrote, and he generally knows the whole FontLab/Python area pretty darn well, as one of the RoboFab developers. So I thought I should double-check. Of course, anyone can make a mistake... some just seem less likely mistakes than others, is all.
  • George Thomas
    George Thomas Posts: 645
    DialogKit is pure Python, so it doesn't matter.
    In re-reading what he wrote, I think what Erik is saying here is that DialogKit is bit-independent, not that the platform doesn't matter.
  • Thomas Phinney
    Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,888
    Huh. Okay.
  • Jackson Showalter-Cavanaugh
    Jackson Showalter-Cavanaugh Posts: 539
    I'm assuming you're going to test your instructions yourself first, right? It should be pretty easy to test if DialogKit imports to a FontLab macro on Windows.
  • Paul van der Laan
    Paul van der Laan Posts: 242
    There have been previous such instructions, but they were Mac-only, and are several years out of date now.
    Huh? Some links are perhaps out of date, but my instructions how to install RoboFab on Windows XP on Typophile are still valid I think.

    DialogKit is based on the Python implementation of FontLab how to make interfaces. It works both on Mac and Windows versions of FontLab 5.
  • Thomas Phinney
    Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,888
    Paul: Oh, good point! That was Windows, even if it is pretty out of date, as you say. All the links and versions need updating, and one now needs to know how to run the command prompt as Administrator so stuff will actually install. Plus there is the detail of installing the macros into FontLab proper.

    So, I stand corrected. But the value of something up-to-date remains, I think. :)
  • Thomas Phinney
    Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,888
    Instructions posted at: http://t.co/Q8E5KONdh2

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