Two options exist to compile frePPle under windows:
The binaries created by these compilers are not compatible with each other.
FrePPLe comes with Microsoft Visual Studio projects and workspaces to compile the source code.
You will also need to install:
Visual Studio C++ 2015.
The express edition is sufficient.
Using a different version of Visual Studio will NOT work: Python and its extension modules are all compiled with Visual C++ 2015, and frePPle needs to use the same compiler and C runtime libraries.
Python 3.5 or higher
Install the 64-bit version of Python 3.
Xerces-C 3.1.3
You will have to compile this package from source. The xerces-c team provides a Visual Studio file that can be used to create a 64-bit static library.
The solution file is contrib/vc/frepple.sln. The include and library directories of Python and Xerces-C will need to configured in Visual Studio.
A convenience script contrib/vc/build.bat is also provided to compile from the command line. The script needs to be edited to point to the installation folders of Python and Xerces-C.
If you also want to create the installer, you will need to install a number of additional software components. Detailed instructions are found in the file contrib/installer/README.txt.
Cygwin is a large collection of GNU and Open Source tools which provide functionality similar to a Linux distribution on Windows. The Cygwin environment is available free of charge from http://www.cygwin.com.
The build instructions on Cygwin are identical to the Linux platforms.
The Cygwin executables are considerably slower than the native Windows binaries. The Cygwin build is not intended for production environments, but should be seen as a test and development setup for a Linux environment.