title: What files are required for Py_Initialize to run?
body: <p>I am working on a simple piece of code that runs a Python function from a C/C++ application. In order to do this I set the PYTHONPATH and run initialize as follows:</p>
  
  <pre class="lang-c++ prettyprint-override"><code>Py_SetPythonHome("../Python27");
  Py_InitializeEx(0);
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Then I import my module and run my function. It works great.</p>
  
  <p>I am now attempting to build an installer for my colleagues to run my code. I want to minimize the number of files I need to include in this installer, for obvious reasons.</p>
  
  <p>Googling around the subject tells me that I should be able to include the files "Python27.lib" and "Python27.dll", then zip the "DLLs" and "Lib" folders and include them. However, when I attempt this, Py_Initialize fails. </p>
  
  <p>A quick examination of what is causing this failure shows that Py_Initialize appears to depend upon a number of .pyc files in the Lib folder including (but not limited to <em>warnings.pyc</em>, <em>_abcoll.pyc</em>, <em>_future_.pyc</em> and the contents of the "encodings" folder.</p>
  
  <p>I cannot understand why this would be. Any advice?</p>