How to work on a package

[dieter]

Roel Schroeven <roel at roelschroeven.net> writes:
> dieter schreef op 7/02/2018 8:21:
> ...
>> Likely, there are many ways to execute tests for your package.
>
>> I am using "setuptools" for packaging (an extension
>> of Python's standard "disutils"). Its "setup.py" supports the "test"
>> command. This means, properly set up, I can run tests
>> with "python setup.py test".
>
> That can solve the testing issue, I guess, even though it feels weird
> to me that the most straightforward way doesn't work.
>
> But testing is not the only issue. Often I'd like to start the Python
> interpreter to load one of the modules in the package to try some
> things out, or write a little script to do the same. These things are
> very natural to me when writing Python code, so it seems very strange
> to me that there's no easy way when working on a packages.

I use a "virtualenv" for this: it is like a private Python environment
with its own set of packages.

The "setup" from "setuptools" not only supports a "test" command
but also a "develop" command. This "links" the package (source)
into Python's (the one you used to run "setup.py"; i.e. usually
the one of a "virtualenv") library and thereby makes it available
for this Python.