You may have heard there are new, modern standards in Python packaging (pyproject.toml!) that have been adopted over the last few years. There are now

The Basics of Python Packaging in Early 2023 - DrivenData Labs

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2023-05-30 09:30:07

You may have heard there are new, modern standards in Python packaging (pyproject.toml!) that have been adopted over the last few years. There are now several popular and shiny modern tools for managing your packaging projects. (Poetry! Hatch! PDM!) However, the documentation is scattered and much of it is specific to these competing tools. What are the recommended best practices when creating a Python package? What is the minimal amount that you need to do in order to follow the best practices?

First, some quick definitions: packaging refers to the general activity of creating and distributing Python packages, which are bundles of Python code (usually as a compressed file archive) in a particular format that can be distributed to other people and installed by a tool like pip. The action of turning your Python source code into the package thing is often referred to as building the package.

There are many other activities that are not packaging but are related, such as virtual environment management and dependency management. Most of this post will not be about those topics, but they will turn up later when we discuss popular tools that handle packaging and these other things.