pip install pygame choking on SDL dependency

[sneakyimp]

I'm working my way through a book to learn python. Nearly done. Penultimate chapter calls for an install of pygame to develop a simple game. Turns out that installing pygame is a pain.

I'm using a MacBook which has python 2.7 installed. I'd like to avoid changing this lest I break something important.

I installed pip:

sudo python -m ensurepip --default-pip --upgrade

And tried to install pygame:

sudo pip install pygame

This results in the operation proceeding until it hits a fatal error:

src/scrap.c:27:10: fatal error: 'SDL.h' file not found

Having sniffed around a bit, I see that there are some dependencies (SDL) and the solutions I've seen recommend installing these with homebrew. This, of course, necessitates installing homebrew also.

Must I really install homebrew? I use this laptop for some sensitive work and the idea of just installing these tools stacked upon tools is a bit disconcerting.