kbe/src/lib/python/Doc/distributing/index.rst
.. _distributing-index:
############################### Distributing Python Modules ###############################
:Email: [email protected]
As a popular open source development project, Python has an active supporting community of contributors and users that also make their software available for other Python developers to use under open source license terms.
This allows Python users to share and collaborate effectively, benefiting from the solutions others have already created to common (and sometimes even rare!) problems, as well as potentially contributing their own solutions to the common pool.
This guide covers the distribution part of the process. For a guide to
installing other Python projects, refer to the
:ref:installation guide <installing-index>.
.. note::
For corporate and other institutional users, be aware that many organisations have their own policies around using and contributing to open source software. Please take such policies into account when making use of the distribution and installation tools provided with Python.
Python Packaging Index <https://pypi.org>__ is a public
repository of open source licensed packages made available for use by
other Python usersPython Packaging Authority <https://www.pypa.io/>__ are the group of
developers and documentation authors responsible for the maintenance and
evolution of the standard packaging tools and the associated metadata and
file format standards. They maintain a variety of tools, documentation
and issue trackers on both GitHub <https://github.com/pypa>__ and
BitBucket <https://bitbucket.org/pypa/>__.distutils is the original build and distribution system first added
to the Python standard library in 1998. While direct use of :mod:distutils
is being phased out, it still laid the foundation for the current packaging
and distribution infrastructure, and it not only remains part of the
standard library, but its name lives on in other ways (such as the name
of the mailing list used to coordinate Python packaging standards
development).setuptools_ is a (largely) drop-in replacement for :mod:distutils first
published in 2004. Its most notable addition over the unmodified
:mod:distutils tools was the ability to declare dependencies on other
packages. It is currently recommended as a more regularly updated
alternative to :mod:distutils that offers consistent support for more
recent packaging standards across a wide range of Python versions.wheel_ (in this context) is a project that adds the bdist_wheel
command to :mod:distutils/setuptools_. This produces a cross platform
binary packaging format (called "wheels" or "wheel files" and defined in
:pep:427) that allows Python libraries, even those including binary
extensions, to be installed on a system without needing to be built
locally... _setuptools: https://setuptools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ .. _wheel: https://wheel.readthedocs.io/
In most parts of the world, software is automatically covered by copyright. This means that other developers require explicit permission to copy, use, modify and redistribute the software.
Open source licensing is a way of explicitly granting such permission in a relatively consistent way, allowing developers to share and collaborate efficiently by making common solutions to various problems freely available. This leaves many developers free to spend more time focusing on the problems that are relatively unique to their specific situation.
The distribution tools provided with Python are designed to make it reasonably straightforward for developers to make their own contributions back to that common pool of software if they choose to do so.
The same distribution tools can also be used to distribute software within an organisation, regardless of whether that software is published as open source software or not.
The standard library does not include build tools that support modern Python packaging standards, as the core development team has found that it is important to have standard tools that work consistently, even on older versions of Python.
The currently recommended build and distribution tools can be installed
by invoking the pip module at the command line::
python -m pip install setuptools wheel twine
.. note::
For POSIX users (including Mac OS X and Linux users), these instructions
assume the use of a :term:virtual environment.
For Windows users, these instructions assume that the option to adjust the system PATH environment variable was selected when installing Python.
The Python Packaging User Guide includes more details on the currently recommended tools_.
.. _currently recommended tools: https://packaging.python.org/guides/tool-recommendations/#packaging-tool-recommendations
The Python Packaging User Guide covers the various key steps and elements involved in creating a project:
Project structure_Building and packaging the project_Uploading the project to the Python Packaging Index_.. _Project structure:
https://packaging.python.org/tutorials/distributing-packages/
.. _Building and packaging the project:
https://packaging.python.org/tutorials/distributing-packages/#packaging-your-project
.. _Uploading the project to the Python Packaging Index:
https://packaging.python.org/tutorials/distributing-packages/#uploading-your-project-to-pypi
These are quick answers or links for some common tasks.
This isn't an easy topic, but here are a few tips:
This is actually quite a complex topic, with a variety of alternatives available depending on exactly what you're aiming to achieve. See the Python Packaging User Guide for more information and recommendations.
.. seealso::
Python Packaging User Guide: Binary Extensions <https://packaging.python.org/guides/packaging-binary-extensions/>__
.. other topics:
Once the Development & Deployment part of PPUG is fleshed out, some of those sections should be linked from new questions here (most notably, we should have a question about avoiding depending on PyPI that links to https://packaging.python.org/en/latest/mirrors/)