What is setup.py?

setup.py is a Python script used to build and install Python packages. It is typically used in the following way:

1. Write a setup.py script that specifies the package metadata and the build and installation instructions.
2. Run the setup.py script using the python interpreter:

Run a setup.py script using the Python interpreter

pip install .

This will build the package, if necessary, and install it in the Python environment where the python interpreter is running. Note that python setup.py install is deprecated; pip install . is the recommended approach.

The setup.py script can also be used to perform other tasks such as building a distribution package for the package (e.g., a tarball or wheel file), or uploading the package to a package repository. For modern Python projects, packaging configuration is increasingly managed via pyproject.toml, though setup.py remains widely supported.

Here is a simple example of a setup.py script:

An example of the setup.py file in Python

from setuptools import setup

setup(
    name='mypackage',
    version='1.0',
    description='My package description',
    author='My Name',
    author_email='[email protected]',
    packages=['mypackage'],
)

This setup.py script specifies metadata for a package called mypackage, such as the package name, version, description, and author information. It also specifies that the package includes a module called mypackage. When the setup.py script is run, it will build and install the mypackage package in the Python environment where the script is run.