Python package install using pip or easy_install from repos

Question

The simplest way to deal with python package installations, so far, to me, has been to check out the source from the source control system and then add a symbolic link in th

Answer 1

If you download or check out the source distribution of a package — the one that has its "setup.py" inside of it — then if the package is based on the "setuptools" (which also power easy_install), you can move into that directory and say:

$ python setup.py develop

and it will create the right symlinks in dist-packages so that the .py files in the source distribution are the ones that get imported, rather than copies installed separately (which is what "setup.py install" would do — create separate copies that don't change immediately when you edit the source code to try a change).

As the other response indicates, you should try reading the "setuptools" documentation to learn more. "setup.py develop" is a really useful feature! Try using it in combination with a virtualenv, and you can "setup.py develop" painlessly and without messing up your system-wide Python with packages you are only developing on temporarily:

http://pypi.python.org/pypi/virtualenv