Packaging Django Apps for Distribution on PyPI

About This Talk

One of the strengths of Django is that it allows you to use apps created by other developers, so you don’t have to spend time rewriting something that someone else has already written. However, creating Python packages for distribution via the Python Package Index is a process that is unfamiliar to most developers. In this talk, you will learn about creating a reusable Django app. The talk will cover how a Django app differs from a package like requests, and how an app interacts with models and URLs in an existing project.

While the talk will include a discussion of how to upload a Django app to PyPI, the parts that discuss how to make reusable Django apps will be useful to developers who are working at organizations where they may not be able to open-source their code.

This talk is intended for Django developers who have some familiarity with how Django works, and an interest in code reuse and packaging.

Outline

• Introduction (3 min)
  • the difference between a Django app and a utility package (like Requests)
  • the relationship between a Django project and an app
• How the packaging considerations for a Django app differ from a utility package (4 min)
  • requirements.txt versus setup.py: how they are different
• How a packaged Django app is structured (3 min)
  • including documentation in the package
• Creating a Django app for packaging (10 min)
  • considerations for making reusable Django apps
  • interacting with existing models and data
  • interacting with URLs
• Creating a source archive and wheel and uploading it with twine (5 min)
  • use test.pypi.org before uploading your package to pypi.org