Conventions and requirements for a python module
Michael Felt
michael at felt.demon.nl
Tue Oct 11 10:29:40 EDT 2016
From reading the python source, and other projects I am looking to
patch I see that there is often a file __init__.py, sometimes empty
(only comments), sometimes not.
I have tried looking in what I hope are the "regular" places such as:
https://docs.python.org, readthedocs (it took 454 seconds to build
something - what did it build, and where do I get it? I was assuming it
was "latest documentation" and I even tried the old, no-longer
maintained, wiki.
A search for __init__.py, except for on https://packaging.python.org/
that talks about a setup command to extract the version from __init__.py
- I have not been able to find anything on "standards" for packages that
are more than a single .py file.
Probably, I am not looking correctly - however, I do hope someone also
notices that finding this is not straight forward for a novice in
python. Had I lacked curiosity I would have given up, moved on. Instead
- this email.
In short, I would rather try to "read the manual" and ask questions when
I get stuck than ask "stupid" questions. That only makes me look bad ;)
(e.g., in my other thread the idea of using subclasses was made
frequently. That was something I was considering, but what they are, how
they are specified, what they achieve rather than guessing that it means
- intent some related class xxx: lines.
re: project setup: when to use _filename.py - when to use filename.py;
what is the difference/significance of a sub-directory when "masking"
complexity, better implementation details, is the goal (i.e., there is
the API and there are the nitty-gritty implementation details).
The key thing I have learned is that I must not assume that python is
anything like what I already know/knew. Assume python "does it
differently" and mistakes maybe fewer.
Thanks for your time and pointers (to links, if not direct advice)
Michael
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