The future of PYPI

I'm actually wondering what the future has in store for the Python Package Index. Can package developers really rely on PYPI for distributing their packages? What happens if PYPI goes away?

For the foreseeable future, I would say that PYPI is a dependable repository for Python package distribution. It is the standard method of installing Python packages and as long as it remains popular, I can't really see it going anywhere. Especially since this helps spread the usage of a growing language.

Another question is how will the Python Enterprise Application Toolkit evolve to incorporate new functionality such as checking for updates on PYPI for all my installed Python packages? If something like this is ever solidified, this will be a major popularity boost for Python.

Python Entry Points

What are entry points? Entry points are a way to expose Python objects to other Python packages on a given system. See the PEAK documentation for a detailed reference. Other Python packages can iterate through various groups of entry points, and if your package has defined an entry point within this group, the entry point is dealt with polymorphically.

This is a good way to "glue" Python applications together. If your Python package consumes entry points, you should document the interfaces that are required by all the entry points your package may encounter. This way, other developers can implement packages with entry points that conform to your entry point requirements. Once this is complete, all they need to do is install their package. Thats it. The consuming package knows where to look.

Whats missing is a GUI front-end or a command line utility that will query and display the various entry points on any given system. Another, and more importantly, missing piece of the puzzle is a front-end Python package manager.