Packaging#
There are a few different build systems that can be used to build Python packages. The most popular are:
The build module#
The build package is a simple and generic way to build Python packages. It uses the build-system section of pyproject.toml to determine how to build the package. It is the recommended build system for Python packages that are not using setuptools.
https://pypa-build.readthedocs.io/en/stable/
Why don't we use python setup.py anymore?#
Within the last few years, all direct invocations of setup.py have become deprecated. You may be thinking something along the lines of...
setup.pyhas been working, why should I use anything else?
The simple answer is that directly invoking setup.py often doesn't work the way it should. This can causes subtle, unfortunate breakages.
PEP517 and PEP518 are standards upon which modern tools like build have been. Standards compliant, purpose built tools are the future of Python packaging.
If you would like to read more about why directly invoking setup.py has been deprecated please read this [fantastic article by Paul Ganssle](The following is a short summary of a fantastic article by Paul Ganssle.
