The article discusses the structure of a Python project and the typical project files.
Follow the link to learn how to install Python on your computer. Also, to learn Python details, navigate to the link.
You can examine the simple Python project at the link, where you will find different standard Python files.
Typical Files and Folders of a Python Project
A standard Python project contains the following files and folders:
A LICENSE.md file specifies our rights and limitations when installing and using software and contains registration data that enables a registered user to open and use software. Among the license types, the most widely used is the open source license, which permits others to use, modify, and distribute the projects contained in your repository without restriction. In general, license files are in the application’s main directory or a subdirectory.
The README.md file in the root directory is where you describe the project and how to use it. The README.md is the project’s face file, so it needs to be quite clear and beautiful, and you can do it using the markdown language.
The module code folder contains your actual code, which implements the designed algorithms. Take note that this folder name is your project name.
The file requirements.txt is not mandatory. In case of its presence, you can specify the Python packages required to run the current project. In general, the requirements.txt file is located in your project’s root directory.
The file .gitignore is a special file that instructs Git to ignore certain files and directories. If you want to examine a typical .gitignore file for a Python project, follow the link.
setup.py is a Python file whose presence indicates that the module/package you are about to install has been packaged and distributed using Distutils, surely is the industry standard for Python module distribution.
Firstly, to install a package via the setup.py file, the user must ensure that setuptools is up to date:
python -m pip install --upgrade setuptoolsTo install with setup.py file, execute the CLI command:
python setup.py installProject documentation stored in the docs directory.
The folder Tests contains the tests designed for the project.
Python Project’s Best Practices
The following are the best practices for creating Python projects:
- Create version control for the projects. Among them, Git is the preferred tool.
- The correct project has automated clean code practices.
- They should have a dependency management system.
- They have different types of configuration files (.yaml, .toml).
- Sensitive information is stored in an .env file.
- They have a README.md file.
- They have well-organized documentation.
Was this helpful?
0 / 0