I know that python is interpreter language and that it means it converts script to machine code when you run it, but can someone clarify to me why can't it be pre converted to machine code (compiled).
I'm asking this because I have been making these simple programs with GUI using tkinter and I am using pyInstaller to create executable file. The problem is that sometimes I get this simple program (only a few lines of code) as big as 10s of MBs.
As I understand, PyInstaller packs all libraries and interpreter with script in exe which results in these sizes, but is there a way I can get this to somewhat rational size? Because I know same programs made in C++ much smaller (less than MB).
I don't know any of C or C++ so that isn't an option as I don't have time to learn it. Size really isn't that big to be much of a problem, but still, it's nice to have smaller file.
Check if the virtual environment that you are using does not have site-packages that you don't need. Usually it's these packages that are large. Create a new venv and only install the libraries you need and try.
Related
I've relatively new to programming but I've created my first application and created an exe file using pyinstaller. It runs really well and does exactly what I want it to!!
Problem is it starts up really slow. How do I know what it is doing when it's starting up and how can I try and make it run more efficiently. I'm running a pretty good computer so I don't think its the hardware. I've imported a lot of modules and the file size is 345MB.
Sorry I know my question may not be answerable but any suggestions would be appreciated.
The problem is that the pyinstaller includes to many libraries in your program. So the best solution is to create a virtual environment and install in that environment only the libs you need. Then build your program from that environment.
https://virtualenv.pypa.io/en/stable/
Another solution is to reduce the size by excluding some big packages.
https://intellipaat.com/community/15147/reducing-size-of-pyinstaller-exe
Here is a good example how to exclude some libs in the pyinstaller command. When you use libraries like "pandas" which are very big then it's included in the exe file. Here you could try to exclude some folders that are very big and you don't need in your program.
I have tried many times to use a compiler like cx_freeze and other programs, but for some reason nothing seems to be working. I made a little game which I want to send to a friend, but he needs python installed.
Can't I just put python.exe and pygame into the folder that I will send my friend and won't python be installed then, and all he needs to do is run the program .py and it will work? Sorry if I'm not being clear.. I'm just trying to find a simple way to compile my code to let users not waste time on downloading pygame and python.
py2exe allows you to package python applications for Windows. Right now it supports everything from 2.4 - 3.1 of python. You do however need to be able to redistribute MSVCR90.dll.
There are a range of distribution tools and you can find a list here.
Since you've had difficultly with several tools now updating your question with error codes and speific problems will yeild better responses.
From my knowledge, just putting a bunch of your stuff in one folder and sending doesn't work. It would be easier to make a .exe
That way your stuff will be protected, and users can easily start it. Otherwise idk. Try using pyinstaller again. It should work if you have a python.x
CX_Freeze is known for having many bugs and problems, Pyg.exe is new to me also. Your best bet is just keep trying until you find a solution.
Putting python.exe and your script together in a folder will not work for distribution. You require all Python dependencies - at best your would need to include all of your Python folder, and it still might not work. The best method would be compilation or packaging with programs such as py2exe, cx_freeze, Cython, pyg.exe, etc.
I have a Python program that uses the following libraries: Tkinter, NumPy, SciPy, SymPy, and Matplotlib. And probably it will include more libraries in the near future while being developed.
How can I distribute such a program to Mac, Windows, and Linux users, without requiring users to install the right version of each library, and hopefully by just downloading a single file and executing it?
What I initially wanted was compiling the program into a static binary program, but it seems that it's not an easy goal.
Probably I can ask users to install Python, but that's the maximum requirement that I can ask for them, and I want to avoid it if possible.
I don't care about hiding the code at all; in the end I will distribute both the code and the program. What I want is to make the program very easy for any user to download and run it.
Even such an advice as 'a Python program is not suitable for such a distribution' is welcome. I had a fair amount of experience with distributing C programs but I don't know what to expect with a Python program.
For convenient, you could try something like pyinstaller.
It will package all of needed module into one folder or or one executable as you like. And it can run in all platforms.
The simple command to make a directory contains an executable file and all needed library is
$pyinstaller --onedir --name=directory_name --distpath="path_to_put_that_directory" "path to your main_program.py"
You can change --onedir into --onefile to make that folder into an one executable file which has all the thing it need to run inside.
You can use Setuptools to do the packaging stuff .
It create eggs, which are the equivalent of jars.
https://pypi.python.org/pypi/setuptools#using-setuptools-and-easyinstall
https://pythonhosted.org/setuptools/setuptools.html
You can have a look at Py2exe , even though you risk the application becoming bigger than it already is, and some packages need to be installed manually .
All of the python I've written so far have been fine on my own computer, but now I'd like to send some programs to friends to have them test certain features. Suppose I wrote an application in python with wxpython. Assuming people I send code to will not have either installed, what is the best way to include both python, and the wxpython library so the other person isn't struggling to get it running? I've never had to do this at this point in my learning and would love some feedback!
Thanks.
You can create a bundle using py2exe and installer using NSIS and ship it as executable so that your friend will get the complete working executable. But mind you, this will increase the size of the file enormously and I have often found it easier to ask them to install via README.txt files.
There are lots of binary builders: py2exe, cx_freeze, bbfreeze, PyInstaller, GUI2Exe. I have a whole slew of articles on these:
http://www.blog.pythonlibrary.org/2010/08/31/another-gui2exe-tutorial-build-a-binary-series/
http://www.blog.pythonlibrary.org/2010/07/31/a-py2exe-tutorial-build-a-binary-series/
http://www.blog.pythonlibrary.org/2010/08/19/a-bbfreeze-tutorial-build-a-binary-series/
http://www.blog.pythonlibrary.org/2010/08/12/a-cx_freeze-tutorial-build-a-binary-series/
http://www.blog.pythonlibrary.org/2010/08/10/a-pyinstaller-tutorial-build-a-binary-series/
Unless they are going to develop with Python too, then I don't see any reason for them to want to install a bunch of multi-megabyte installers versus your own. You can read about how to use Inno Setup to create an installer here:
http://www.blog.pythonlibrary.org/2008/08/27/packaging-wxpymail-for-distribution/
I plan to use PyInstaller to create a stand-alone python executable. PythonInstaller comes with built-in support for UPX and uses it to compress the executable but they are still really huge (about 2,7 mb).
Is there any way to create even smaller Python executables? For example using a shrinked python.dll or something similiar?
If you recompile pythonxy.dll, you can omit modules that you don't need. Going by size, stripping off the unicode database and the CJK codes creates the largest code reduction. This, of course, assumes that you don't need these. Remove the modules from the pythoncore project, and also remove them from PC/config.c
Using a earlier Python version will also decrease the size considerably if your really needing a small file size. I don't recommend using a very old version, Python2.3 would be the best option. I got my Python executable size to 700KB's! Also I prefer Py2Exe over Pyinstaller.
You can't go too low in size, because you obviously need to bundle the Python interpreter in, and only that takes a considerable amount of space.
I had the same concerns once, and there are two approaches:
Install Python on the computers you want to run on and only distribute the scripts
Install Python in the internal network on some shared drive, and rig the users' PATH to recognize where Python is located. With some installation script / program trickery, users can be completely oblivious to this, and you'll get to distribute minimal applications.