• 411 on Editable Installs

    From ram@ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) to comp.lang.python on Mon Aug 26 10:50:03 2024
    From Newsgroup: comp.lang.python

    So, you're cruising along in your Python journey, and bam!
    You hit that wall where you wanna import your homemade module
    "mymodule" into different projects scattered across your
    hard drive like so many In-N-Out wrappers.

    Most Python books ghost this topic harder than your Tinder
    matches. If you pester enough people, they'll tell you to
    whip up an "editable install" with

    pip install -e <path to your modules>

    . But hold up, you got to craft a "setup.py" or "pyproject.toml"
    first. Then you run into this whole "setuptools" rigmarole.
    You're supposed to install those bad boys ("Batteries included"),
    but even when you do and "import setuptools" runs smoother than
    the 405 at 3 AM, pip still throws a fit about missing setuptools!

    This ain't my cup of kombucha, folks. It's giving me Java flashbacks.
    After some trial and error that'd make a Silicon Valley startup
    blush, I stumbled on this hack that works with the latest CPython:

    Mosey on over to the "Lib/site-packages" directory in your
    Python install. Create a file ending in ".pth" - let's call it
    "mymodule.pth". Drop a single line in there with the file system
    path to the directory housing your modules. Boom, you're golden.

    It's so stupid simple, I bet the Python overlords have already
    slapped a "deprecated" sticker on it and are plotting its
    demise as we speak . . .


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