Software packaging is perhaps the most important achievement in bringing applications and behavior to the consumer market. Packages let us reuse others’ work in our projects, install apps on our phones, and more. Without packaging, our decreased productivity would still have us in the dark ages of software development.
Whether you’re already a maintainer of a Python package or just getting started with packaging, a solid understanding of packaging concepts will put you in the right mindset as you work through this book and other projects. This part covers what packaging is, what you’ll need to get started with your own Python package, and what constitutes a minimal working package.