Build self-contained native binaries

[amotl]

Hi there,

we might think about using PyInstaller to build self-contained native binaries, if that would even be possible? It looks like @ichard26 added this to the Black Python code formatter the other day, see also psf/black#1743.

wetterdienst.exe, anyone?

With kind regards,
Andreas.

[ichard26]

Hi there 👋

I added OS native binaries to Black because Black can be run as a tool and some of our users didn't want to have to setup a CPython 3.6+ environment just so they can use the tool. CI is probably the biggest environment the binaries are used in. The thing about wetterdienst is that it appears to be only a library and doesn't has standalone tool-like functionality. The binaries PyInstaller creates cannot be imported so they're effectively useless for libraries. A single-file PyInstaller binary is essentially a Python environment, your code, and a bootstrap program all mixed into one.

So I'm not sure if providing OS native binaries for wetterdienst would be useful.

PS: I apologize if I have no idea what I am talking about. This is my first time looking at this package and I didn't do a deep scan of the project.

[amotl]

Dear Richard,

thanks a stack for the quick response. No need to apologize, we appreciate any insights from your end.

The thing about wetterdienst is that it appears to be only a library and doesn't has standalone tool-like functionality.

Well, it actually sports a nice command line interface [1] and some people like @wetterfrosch are avidly using it. He recently experienced some hassles when running it on a freshly upgraded Arch Linux system already on Python 3.9 while we haven't yet prepared for it. So, that might also be a reason to publish standalone executables because they include the whole environment including the Python interpreter, right?

In the same manner, it would be awesome if we could serve a similar user base by providing ready-to-run binaries for Windows environments, hence my outlook to wetterdienst.exe.

It will be exciting to explore whether PyInstaller can bundle all of those (scientific) Python packages [2] into a single self-contained executable. Do you have any insights into this?

With kind regards,
Andreas.

[1] https://github.com/earthobservations/wetterdienst/blob/v0.11.1/wetterdienst/cli.py
[2] https://github.com/earthobservations/wetterdienst/blob/v0.11.1/pyproject.toml#L69-L89

P.S.: @LalitMaganti explored whether it would be feasible to create an embeddable shared library from PyInstaller packages at pyinstaller/pyinstaller#3593.

[ichard26]

I'm sorry to not responding in a reasonable timeframe; these days I've been crushed for time (and honestly energy). I can't make any promises to when I'll get back to you, but hopefully soon. Sorry to leave you waiting! Merry Christmas BTW if you celebrate it :)

[amotl]

Dear Richard,

we also wish you and your family a Merry Christmas. Please don't worry about any timeframe, I was just writing down a note here what I believed it would be a good idea to bring to Wetterdienst in general. We don't have to hurry with the implementation.

With kind regards,
Andreas.

[amotl]

Hi. In order to clean up a few issues, I am converting this into a discussion.

[amotl]

Hi again.

It looks like we should explore Briefcase ¹² on this matter.

With kind regards,
Andreas.

Footnotes

1. https://github.com/beeware/briefcase ↩

2. https://briefcase.readthedocs.io/ ↩

[amotl]

Hi again. What about trying this again, for example using PyApp by @ofek. Do you think it will work?

/cc @gutzbenj, @neumann-nico

[ofek]

That should work beautifully for your use case here. Let me know if I can help!