1:mod:`distutils` --- Building and installing Python modules 2=========================================================== 3 4.. module:: distutils 5 :synopsis: Support for building and installing Python modules into an 6 existing Python installation. 7 8.. sectionauthor:: Fred L. Drake, Jr. <fdrake@acm.org> 9 10-------------- 11 12:mod:`distutils` is deprecated with removal planned for Python 3.12. 13See the :ref:`What's New <distutils-deprecated>` entry for more information. 14 15-------------- 16 17The :mod:`distutils` package provides support for building and installing 18additional modules into a Python installation. The new modules may be either 19100%-pure Python, or may be extension modules written in C, or may be 20collections of Python packages which include modules coded in both Python and C. 21 22Most Python users will *not* want to use this module directly, but instead 23use the cross-version tools maintained by the Python Packaging Authority. In 24particular, 25`setuptools <https://setuptools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/>`__ is an 26enhanced alternative to :mod:`distutils` that provides: 27 28* support for declaring project dependencies 29* additional mechanisms for configuring which files to include in source 30 releases (including plugins for integration with version control systems) 31* the ability to declare project "entry points", which can be used as the 32 basis for application plugin systems 33* the ability to automatically generate Windows command line executables at 34 installation time rather than needing to prebuild them 35* consistent behaviour across all supported Python versions 36 37The recommended `pip <https://pip.pypa.io/>`__ installer runs all 38``setup.py`` scripts with ``setuptools``, even if the script itself only 39imports ``distutils``. Refer to the 40`Python Packaging User Guide <https://packaging.python.org>`_ for more 41information. 42 43For the benefits of packaging tool authors and users seeking a deeper 44understanding of the details of the current packaging and distribution 45system, the legacy :mod:`distutils` based user documentation and API 46reference remain available: 47 48* :ref:`install-index` 49* :ref:`distutils-index` 50