Python wheels and packages

A Python wheel file is a ZIP file that holds a Python package, which is another way to say it is ready to install and use. Often, when you use something from pip, it is a wheel. When you build a Python application and store it on a PyPI server, it’s a wheel.

Anatomy of a package

The typical entry point for your Python application is __main__.py.

The __init__.py file is found in every folder you use. It can have special purposes such as holding the version – for example, __version__ = "1.0.0".

An alternative to setup.py is pyproject.toml; both are central places to put project-wide configurations. You can specify requirements, among other things. Here is an example:

PACKAGE_REQUIREMENTS = ["pyyaml"]
LOCAL_REQUIREMENTS = [
    "pyspark==3.2.1",
    "delta-spark==1.1.0",
    "scikit-learn",
    "pandas...