Create masterful, maintainable Python packages! This book includes pro tips for design, automation, testing, deployment, and even release as an open source project!
In Publishing Python Packages you will learn how
Build extensions and console script commands Use tox to automate packaging, installing, and testing Build a continuous integration pipeline using GitHub Actions Improve code quality and reduce manual review using black, mypy, and flake8 Create published documentation for your packages Keep packages up to date with pyupgrade and Dependabot Foster an open source community using GitHub features
Publishing Python Packages teaches you how to easily share your Python code with your team and the outside world. Learn a repeatable and highly automated process for package maintenance that’s based on the best practices, tools, and standards of Python packaging. This book walks you through creating a complete package, including a C extension, and guides you all the way to publishing on the Python Package Index. Whether you’re entirely new to Python packaging or looking for optimal ways to maintain and scale your packages, this fast-paced and engaging guide is for you.
Foreword by David Beazley.
Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications.
About the technology Successful Python packages install easily, run flawlessly, and stay reliably up to date. Publishing perfect Python packages requires a rigorous process that supports systematic testing and review, along with excellent documentation. Fortunately, the Python ecosystem includes tools and techniques to automate package creation and publishing.
About the book Publishing Python Packages presents a practical process for sharing Python code in an automated and scalable way. Get hands-on experience with the latest packaging tools, and learn the ins and outs of package testing and continuous integration. You’ll even get pro tips for setting up a maintainable open source project, including licensing, documentation, and nurturing a community of contributors.
What's inside
Build extensions and console script commands Improve code quality with automated review and testing Create excellent documentation Keep packages up to date with pyupgrade and Dependabot
About the reader For intermediate Python programmers.
About the author Dane Hillard has spent the majority of his development career using Python to build web applications.
Table of Contents PART 1 FOUNDATIONS 1 The what and why of Python packages 2 Preparing for package development 3 The anatomy of a minimal Python package PART 2 CREATING A VIABLE PACKAGE 4 Handling package dependencies, entry points, and extensions 5 Building and maintaining a test suite 6 Automating code quality tooling PART 3 GOING PUBLIC 7 Automating work through continuous integration 8 Authoring and maintaining documentation 9 Making a package evergreen 10 Scaling and solidifying your practices 11 Building a community
Before reading this book I was already maintaining a dozen or so python packages within my company. My python packages and packing was not too bad, but I spent a lot of work reading and searching to figure it all out. This book saves you a lot of the time I spent and will also give you a better result than what I had (of course I went back to my own packages and improved them after reading the book).
The book covers the building python packages, but equally important, all the infrastructure you need around your packages to work efficiently with them: Automation of tests and deployment, which is a must for me in my daily work. Of less interest to me, but important for many other types of projects than mine: Automation of documentation and working with public repositories and more.
For me personally, the only thing I missed that I find important for my own projects, would be how to automate the changelog.
This book is a good reference book to have about the complete workflow of publishing a python package. It covers modern development tools that are clearly used in popular projects (asdf, black, mypy, tox, cookiecutter), and presents a clear tutorial for each one of them. Hence, it is very nice to have such a condensed compedium of things that are usually treated in scattered tutorials throughout the internet.
However, many things can be improved. The examples are very bad; the authors talks about a "CarCorp" company that releases a "imppkg" package that calculated harmonic means - nothing related whatsoever. Hence, it is indeed a reference book and a tutorial about tools, but you have to follow along with your own projects, and not immerse yourself in the book.
If you want to have a clear understanding of the Python package system and want to create packages yourself, buy this book. This book will sharpen your Python skills and make you stand out as a software engineer. Understanding packages is key to be efficient as a programmer. I highly recommend Python developers read this book and contribute to the ever-growing ecosystem.