Packaging
##############

What is a package ?
=========================

A Python package alloas you to create a file directory structure of modules.
It is a directory that contains the special file **__init__.py**. This file can be empty but must be present. Here is an example of a package contained in the a dicretory called **Project**::


    .
    └── Project
        ├── setup.py
        ├── Package1
            ├── module1.py
            ├── module2.py
            ├── module3.py
            ├── __init__.py


Although the __init__ file can be empty, it may be used to add statements. It may be used to import specific functions.
²

What is a project ?
==========================

In the structure above, the special file **setup.py** contains the mechanism that will allow you to build a project. A project may contain several packages.


The setup file can be written in different ways.  Here is one example::

    from distutils.core import setup
    setup(name='Project'',
        version='1.0',
        py_modules=['NameOfModule'],
    )

You can then install it by typing this command in a command line interface::

    python setup.py install

Or create a distributable file (stored in dist/ directory)::

    python setup.py sdist


.. todo:: setuptools, pypi