Python Egg

Python Egg is a packaging format used in the past but is now replaced by a newer format called Python Wheel. The Egg distribution format was introduced in 2004 by setuptools, whereas the Wheel format was launched by PEP 427 in 2012.

.egg files are like .zip files and are completely cross-platform. They are built using the setuptools package.

This tutorial will teach you to create a .egg file and install it using easy_install in Python.

Create a .egg File for Your Package in Python

Let’s see how you can create the egg file for the package in Python. This tutorial will use the test package, which contains these files:

hello.py
__init__.py

First, create a new directory and put your Python package folder inside it. Then make a new file, setup.py, and add the content below.

from setuptools import setup, find_packages

setup(name="test", version="0.1", packages=find_packages())

You have to replace the test with your Python package name. The find_packages function finds the package in the current directory.

Next, run the following command to create a .egg file.

python setup.py bdist_egg

Output:

It will create three new folders in the current directory: build, dist, and test.egg-info.

C:\USERS\RHNTM\EGG
├───build
│   ├───bdist.win-amd64
│   └───lib
│       └───test
├───dist
├───test
└───test.egg-info

You can find your .egg file test-0.1-py3.10.egg inside the dist folder. 3.10 is the version of Python installed on this computer.

Now, since you have a .egg file, you can use this command to install the package you have created.

python2 -m easy_install .\test-0.1-py3.10.egg

Output:

Processing test-0.1-py3.10.egg
Copying test-0.1-py3.10.egg to c:\python27\lib\site-packages
Adding test 0.1 to easy-install.pth file

Installed c:\python27\lib\site-packages\test-0.1-py3.10.egg

If you change the .egg file extension to .zip, you can find two folders: test and EGG-INFO inside the .zip file.

Now you should have understood the .egg file and how to create it for your Python package. You have also learned to use easy_install to install the package in Python.

The .egg is an obsolete format and no longer in use; wheels and pip install have replaced it. For more information, read this article.