Managing Python Dependencies Transcripts
Chapter: Finding Quality Python Packages
Lecture: Recap and Summary
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Great, now you know all the steps necessary
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to find and pick a great Python library.
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Let's do a quick recap.
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So in step 1, we talked about how to find candidate packages,
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how to search them on various websites and sources.
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Then in step 2, we check package popularity,
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to get a feel for how popular this library is in the Python community
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and how many people are using it.
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In step 3, we check out the project homepage as another important quality indicator.
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In step 4, we had a look at the project README,
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step 5 answered the question whether or not the project is actively maintained,
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then after that, in step 6, we spot check the source code
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to get a good feel for the code quality of this library.
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And all the way at the end, in step 7, we took that narrow down
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list of candidate libraries and tried them out,
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to get a good feel for what their strengths and weaknesses are.
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Again, this whole process works like a funnel,
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so you start with a pool of candidate packages,
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and then successively refine that list by excluding packages
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that you don't like or that can't actually get the job done.
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So this is a process of narrowing it down
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until it becomes very easy to make the final decision.
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Being able to find and pick great Python libraries
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for use in your own projects is a super helpful skill.
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Now this is already a very useful skill if you're building software for yourself,
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but if you're working with a team
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and you have to justify these dependency decisions,
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then you can use the same process and the same criteria
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to explain your decision to your team,
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your manager or whoever is interested and basically write a little report
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on all of the options that you've tried out.
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And after going through all of these research steps
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this report is going to be pretty bullet proof.
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Congratulations, you just completed the finding
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quality Python packages module in this course.
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Here is what you've learned.
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First, we discussed how third party packages can help you
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become a more effective and more productive Python coder.
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Next, you learned how to find popular packages on curated lists.
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And third, you learned a whole workflow for selecting great quality packages
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and a set of rules of thumb for making the right decision.
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Let's end this module with a quick summary.
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Python has a super rich third party library ecosystem
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and using it effectively is the key to becoming more productive as a developer.
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Now while it is great that you have so many third party packages available,
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using a third party package in your own programs,
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always has a maintenance cost,
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and this is something you should be very mindful of,
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the solution here is to stick to high quality packages
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in order to keep those maintenance costs under control.
