Installing source using PIP

Installing from github

You can install a Python module directly from a GitHub repository using pip by specifying the repository's URL. Here’s how you do it:

pip install git+https://github.com/username/repository.git

Replace username with the owner of the repository and repository with the name of the repository. If the module is inside a subdirectory, or if the repository has different branches, you might need to specify the path like this:

pip install git+https://github.com/username/repository.git@branch_name

You can install a specific tag from a GitHub repository using pip by appending the tag name to the repository URL with an @ symbol. Here's how:

pip install git+https://github.com/username/repository.git@tag_name

When using pip to install a package directly from a GitHub repository, pip interacts with GitHub as follows:

1. Fetching the Repository – pip uses Git to clone the specified repository to your local machine. This is done using the git+https://github.com/... URL format.
2. Checking Out the Code – If you specify a branch, tag, or commit hash, pip checks out that specific version of the repository.
3. Looking for setup.py or pyproject.toml – Once cloned, pip searches for a setup.py file (for traditional Python packages) or pyproject.toml (for modern builds using tools like Poetry). It uses this file to determine dependencies and installation steps.
4. Installing Dependencies – If the package has dependencies listed, pip installs them before installing the main package itself.
5. Building & Installing – If the package needs compiling or building wheels, pip handles that and then installs the package into your environment.

Essentially, pip acts as both a package manager and a tool for fetching repositories from GitHub dynamically. It's a convenient way to install Python packages that aren't published on PyPI yet.

Installing from ZIP file

If you want to install a Python package from a .zip file hosted on a web server using pip, you can do it like this:

pip install https://example.com/path/to/package.zip

How It Works:

• pip downloads the ZIP file from the specified URL.
• It extracts the contents and looks for a setup.py or pyproject.toml file to determine how to install the package.
• If dependencies are listed, pip installs them before installing the package itself.

Alternative: Local ZIP File Installation

If you’ve already downloaded the ZIP file, you can install it locally using:

pip install /path/to/package.zip

If the package is structured correctly, this method works seamlessly.

Creating a Python package

If you're creating a Python package, the minimal setup.py file should include:

from setuptools import setup

setup(
    name="your_package_name",
    version="0.1",
    packages=["your_package"],
)

Alternatively you could:

from setuptools import setup
from source import VERSION

setup(
    name="your_package_name",
    version=VERSION,
    packages=["your_package"],
)

Explanation:

• name: Defines the package name.
• version: Sets the version number. In the alternatively option, the version comes from the source package itself.
• packages: Specifies the directory containing your Python modules.

For a more complete setup.py, you'd usually include:

• author, description, long_description
• install_requires for dependencies
• entry_points if your package includes a command-line tool

The ZIP file should be structured like a typical Python package to ensure pip can install it properly. Here's an example of how the contents should be organized:

package.zip
│── your_package/                # Main package directory
│   ├── __init__.py              # Makes it a Python package
│   ├── module.py                # Your actual Python code
│── setup.py                      # Installation configuration
│── requirements.txt              # Optional: Dependencies list
│── README.md                     # Optional: Project info

I saw examples, where the actual python code is named core.py and in __init__.py they would have:

from .core import *

You may also want to import or define a VERSION id.

Key Components:

• your_package/ – The actual package directory with your Python modules.
• __init__.py – An empty file (or containing initialization code) that marks the directory as a package.
• setup.py – Defines metadata, dependencies, and installation instructions for the package.
• requirements.txt – If the package has dependencies, list them here.
• README.md – Optional, but useful for explaining your package.

To create this ZIP file, navigate to the package directory and run:

zip -r package.zip your_package setup.py requirements.txt README.md

Once zipped, pip can install it like:

pip install https://example.com/package.zip

You can use the same structure for a Git repository.

Single file python modules

If your module is just a single Python file rather than a full package, you can still create a ZIP file for installation with pip. Here’s how your ZIP structure should look:

module.zip
│── module.py              # Your entire Python module
│── setup.py               # Installation configuration
│── requirements.txt       # Optional: Dependencies list
│── README.md              # Optional: Project info

setup.py Example for a Single File:

from setuptools import setup

setup(
    name="module_name",
    version="0.1",
    py_modules=["module"],  # Instead of 'packages', use 'py_modules'
)

Creating the ZIP File:

zip -r module.zip module.py setup.py requirements.txt README.md

Installing with pip:

pip install https://example.com/module.zip

This works similarly to installing a full package, but since there’s only one file, you use py_modules instead of packages in setup.py.