Principle:TA Lib Ta lib python C Library Installation
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| Domains | Installation, Build_Systems |
| Last Updated | 2026-02-09 22:00 GMT |
Overview
A build-from-source process for installing the TA-Lib C shared library, which is required by the Python wrapper when binary wheels are not available.
Description
The TA-Lib C library is the computational engine behind all 161 indicator functions. When pre-built wheels are not available for the user's platform, the C library must be installed separately before the Python wrapper can be compiled.
The C library build process involves:
- Downloading the TA-Lib C source from GitHub
- Building with CMake
- Installing headers and shared library to a system-accessible path
The project provides build helper scripts for Linux and macOS.
Usage
Install the C library when binary wheel installation fails or when building from source is preferred. This is required for source-based pip install.
Theoretical Basis
The C library build follows the standard CMake build pattern:
# Abstract C library build process
download_source(version)
cd source_directory
cmake -G "Unix Makefiles" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release .
make
make install # Headers go to include/, library to lib/
The Python wrapper's setup.py then links against the installed C library during compilation.