CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonpython-2.7virtualenv
Lucas
Lucas

Reputation: 3502

Best way to include third party dependencies in Python app

What is the best way to distribute dependencies for an app?

Let's say I want to publish an app that depends on SqlAlchemy - is there a clean way to include SqlAlchemy in my repository without forcing the user to install it?

Upvotes: 7

Views: 551

Answers (2)

Łukasz Rogalski
Łukasz Rogalski

Reputation: 23223

Community standard is to use pip package manager with requirements file.

E.g. 

SQLAlchemy>=0.9.8

It would force installing SQLAlchemy with version above or equal to 0.9.8.

If you want to distribute your code in standalone way, you may consider creating separate directory for 3rd party packages and extending PYTHONPATH environment variable.

export PYTHONPATH=$PYTHONPATH:/path/to/3rdpartypackages/

Upvotes: 2

gdcolella
gdcolella

Reputation: 1

Although it would force the user to install it, I would recommend using a pip requirements file for this. ( http://www.pip-installer.org/en/latest/user_guide.html#requirements-files )

For this specific problem, the file could be as simple as a single line: 

SQLAlchemy

As a general practice, you should specify the version number you depend upon in this file. If you don't want a user to have to install things because you're worried about polluting their main installation, I would look in to using VirtualEnv for this ( http://www.virtualenv.org/en/latest/ ) - This is the recommended means of distributing dependencies for Django projects at least.

Upvotes: 0

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