Doug Hellmann wrote:
On May 7, 2009, at 8:54 AM, Paul Moore wrote:
2009/5/7 Doug Hellmann <doug.hellmann@gmail.com>:
I would argue the other way. Why force authors of console scripts to deal with entry points instead of just installing the script as-is?
Please explain "as-is" with reference to ensuring that the script works cross-platform. I think the benefit of entry points for scripts is that it generates appropriate wrappers to allow use on all platforms.
I write a python script call hello.py like this:
#!/usr/bin/env python
def main(): print 'hello!'
if __name__ == '__main__': main()
Why make me define an entry point for that? I can just put it in /usr/bin or somewhere in the path on Windows and call it as "hello.py".
Does setuptools give me something extra for Windows? I'm not a regular Windows user, so it's likely that there are features I don't know about.
Yes. It creates a .exe wrapper [1]. By using entry points, I don't need to care what the target system is. Also, /usr/bin/env might invoke the wrong python.
[1] And note especially that .bat files are *not* suitable wrappers on Windows, in spite of the fact that they are commonly used. Their biggest disadvantage is that they don't nest.
Which is why it creates .exe wrappers, not batch files. [1] http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/EasyInstall