Menu
I am a bit confused. There seem to be two different kind of Python packages, source distributions (setup.py sdist) and egg distributions (setup.py bdist_egg).
Both seem to be just archives with the same data, the python source files. One difference is that pip, the most recommended package manager, is not able to install eggs.
What is the difference between the two and what is 'the' way to do distribute my packages?
(Note, I am not wanting to distribute my packages through PyPI, but I want to use a package manager that fetches my dependencies from PyPI)
221
Python Source Distributions A source distribution, or more commonly sdist, is a distribution that contains all of the python source code (i.e. . py files), any data files that the library requires, and a setup.py file which describes to the setuptools module how your python code should be packaged.
A “Python egg” is a logical structure embodying the release of a specific version of a Python project, comprising its code, resources, and metadata. There are multiple formats that can be used to physically encode a Python egg, and others can be developed.
bdist is a "binary distribution". For a pure Python project, those things are pretty close. If your project includes any extension modules, though, the sdist includes the source for those extension modules and use of the sdist will require a compiler.
Egg files are just zip files so you might be able to add __main__.py to your egg with a zip tool and make it executable in python 2.6 and run it like python myapp. egg instead of the above incantation where the PYTHONPATH environment variable is set.
setup.py sdist creates a source distribution: it contains setup.py, the source files of your module/script (.py files or .c/.cpp for binary modules), your data files, etc. The result is an archive that can then be used to recompile everything on any platform.
setup.py bdist (and bdist_*) creates a built distribution: it includes .pyc files, .so/.dll/.dylib for binary modules, .exe if using py2exe on Windows, your data files... but no setup.py. The result is an archive that is specific to a platform (for example linux-x86_64) and to a version of Python, and that can be installed simply by extracting it into the root of your filesystem (executables are in /usr/bin (or equivalent), data files in /usr/share, modules in /usr/lib/pythonX.X/site-packages/...). You can even build rpm archives that can be directly installed using your package manager.
125
If you love us? You can donate to us via Paypal or buy me a coffee so we can maintain and grow! Thank you!
Donate Us With
