Because re-factoring my demo code a week out from #pyconau is totally a good idea? :D (No, it really is, the old code was ~awful~) - @glasnt
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I have come out of the depths of python packaging hell with my code working, uploaded to pypi, and both kidneys intact. I’d call that a win. - @glasnt
So I thought it was a totally good idea to make the python package demo code for my PyCon AU talk available via pip. There were a few problems with that…
I’m not actually a python programmer
Yes, I can code python, but I feel that to call yourself an X language/technology programmer, you need to have more than just a fundamental understanding of the syntax. You should at least know how to make a full widget in whatever encapsulation system your language comes with. For Python, that’s packages. This is one reason why I call myself a ruby programmer and not a Rails programmer (I mean, what’s the deal with ActiveRecord /JerrySpringer).
Pypi requires pypi
I thought I could be smart and use an existing library to handle a lot of my logic so that I wouldn’t have to re-create my own. But since that package wasn’t included in pip already, I couldn’t use install_requires in my setup.py to make things easier. I ended up inlining the code for ease of distribution, will full credits and attribution. This is probably not the best idea for robust, open-source friendly code, but it works for now.
Also, when presumably simple base libraries like simplejson don’t install from pip and require system-level python-dev packages, then you’re going to have more problems.
If at first you don’t succeed, there’s always 0.0.2
I did use the TestPyPi server to test my package uploads. I tested locally, in an isolated VM, and even had a willing guinea pig test on the Mac for completeness (thanks Jack <3). This took me up to version 0.1.31 or something stupidly large in the end, until I used the proper production server to submit version 0.0.1
.. then I found a breaking bug in my code. But that’s ok, because I was able to fix it quickly. It just means that my awesome side-goal of having just a 0.0.1 release didn’t happen. Meh.
Liver failure? No, just try and admit failure
As cliche as it sounds, I often find I’m productive with coffee, and creative with alcohol. Should this issue have persisted much longer, I may have started trying to ‘get creative’, as it were, to try and solve the problem. However, I found that chatting to a friend saying “I don’t think I’m going to make this happen” kicked a part of my brain that went “What about if you try this?”, that I don’t think would have happened if I had not nearly admitted defeat.
So, what did you make?
Horrible awful MVP code that is probably riddled with bugs and doesn’t work on your system, that I’ll be using at PyCon next week to demonstate a point.