Build Integration
To compile a Python extension using Pycairo you need to know where Pycairo and cairo are located and what flags to pass to the compiler and linker.
- Variant: - Similar to variant 2 but doesn’t require pycairo to be loaded, which can be problematic on Windows where by default cairo isn’t in the dll search path since Python 3.8. - def get_include_path(): import os from importlib.util import find_spec spec = find_spec("cairo") assert spec is not None return os.path.join(os.path.dirname(spec.origin), 'include') - Compiler Flags:
- python -c "get_include_path()"
- pkg-config --cflags cairo
 
- Linker Flags:
- pkg-config --libs cairo
 
 
- Variant: - Only available since version 1.16.0. - While Pycairo installs a pkg-config file, in case of virtualenvs, installation to the user directory or when using wheels/eggs, pkg-config will not be able to locate the .pc file. The - get_include()function should work in all cases, as long as Pycairo is in your Python search path.- Compiler Flags:
- python -c "import cairo; print(cairo.get_include())"
- pkg-config --cflags cairo
 
- Linker Flags:
- pkg-config --libs cairo
 
 
- Variant: - This works with older versions, but with the limitations mentioned above. Use it as a fallback if you want to support older versions or if your module does not require virtualenv/pip support. - Compiler Flags:
- pkg-config --cflags py3cairo
 
- Linker Flags:
- pkg-config --libs py3cairo