Create Python Module for Distribution

1. Create Main Directory and Subdirectory

1. Open terminal or command prompt.
2. Navigate to location where you want to create your project directory.
3. Create main directory (replace <main_directory> with desired directory name):

   mkdir <main_directory>
   cd <main_directory>

4. Create subdirectory with same name as code file (replace <code_file_name> with desired code file name):

   mkdir <code_file_name>
   cd <code_file_name>

2. Place Code in Subdirectory

1. Create Python code file inside subdirectory (replace <code_file_name>.py with actual code file name):

   touch <code_file_name>.py

3. Create __init__.py File

1. Inside subdirectory, create __init__.py file:

   touch __init__.py

2. Open __init__.py and add all necessary imports from your code. For example:

   from .<code_file_name> import *

4. Create setup.py File

1. Navigate back to main directory:

   cd ..

2. Create setup.py file:

   touch setup.py

3. Open setup.py and add the following content (replace placeholders with actual values):

   from setuptools import setup, find_packages
   
   setup(
       name='<program_name>',
       version='<version_of_the_code>',
       packages=find_packages(),
       description='<description_of_what_the_package_is_doing>',
       author='<organization_or_person>',
       author_email='<email_of_creator>',
       install_requires=[
           # List your package dependencies here
           '',
       ],
   )

5. Install Required Packages

1. Open command prompt as an administrator.
2. Install wheel and setuptools:

   pip install wheel setuptools

6. Build Distribution

1. Change to main directory of code:

   cd <main_directory>

2. Run following command to build the distribution:

   python setup.py bdist_wheel

7. Verify Created Directories

After running the build command, you should see the following directories in your main directory:

• build
• dist
• <projectname>.egg-info

Possible Errors and Solutions

• ModuleNotFoundError: If you encounter an error like ModuleNotFoundError: No module named [package_name], ensure that the package is installed in your Python environment. You can verify with:

  pip show [package_name]

Congrats! You've structured a Python project for distribution!