Introduction to Python eggs

Python eggs are an older distribution format for Python. The new format is called a Python wheel, which we will look at in the next chapter. An egg file is basically a zip file with a different extension. Python can import directly from an egg. You will need the SetupTools package to work with eggs. SetupTools is the original mainstream method of downloading and installing Python packages from PyPI and other sources via the command line, kind of like apt-get for Python. There was a fork of SetupTools called distribute that was eventually merged back into SetupTools. I only mention it because you may see references to that fork if you do much reading about Python eggs outside of this book.

While the egg format is being migrated away from, you do still need to know about it as there are many packages that are distributed using this technology. It will probably be years before everyone has stopped using eggs. Let’s learn how to make our own!