packaging-pitfalls.rst

Forgetting to specify package data.

why

Your package distribution doesn't include static files.

fix

Create a MANIFEST.in.

Listing few file types in MANIFEST.in, then adding some webfonts - only to find out the release you published on PyPI doesn't include them.

why

You duplicated information you already have in the filesystem.¹

fix

Just recursive-include or graft the whole dir.

Listing few file types in package_data, then adding some webfonts - only to find out the release you published on PyPI doesn't include them.

why

You duplicated information you already have in the filesystem.² You have better options.

fix

Use MANIFEST.in instead, it's more flexible.

Listing excludes/prunes before includes/grafts.

why

Last rule wins.

fix

Use correct rule ordering.

Hardcoding packages list in setup.py.

why

You duplicated information you already have in the filesystem.³

fix

Use setuptools.find_packages.

Hardcoding py_modules list in setup.py.

why

You duplicated information you already have in the filesystem.⁴

fix

Discover the modules, example: py_modules=[splitext(basename(i))[0] for i in glob.glob("src/*.py")].

Importing your package in setup.py.

why

It's risky. If your package imports dependencies they might now be available and your package becomes uninstallable. pip/easy_install might need to run your `setup.py to discover dependencies.⁵

fix

If you need to extract the version read the file instead and parse out the version.

Importing unavailable tools in setup.py.

why

They might not be installed at the time setup.py is run.

fix

Use setup_requires, delay imports - import in your custom command class's methods.

Running code that expects a very specific environment. Example: the infamous from distribute_setup import use_setuptools; use_setuptools() pattern expected superuser privileges in order to upgrade setuptools.

why

Users can't always have the exact evironment as you have.

fix

Just import setuptools. Modern python installations, pip and virtualenv already provide setuptools.

---

1. It aint' gonna update itself and you're going to forget to. Happens to the best.↩

2. It aint' gonna update itself and you're going to forget to. Happens to the best.↩

3. It aint' gonna update itself and you're going to forget to. Happens to the best.↩

4. It aint' gonna update itself and you're going to forget to. Happens to the best.↩

5. Except when using wheels or eggs. But you should always upload the sdist (hard to make binary available for every imaginable platform) - which already relies on running setup.py.↩