Why?

Purpose

The first question to address is: why? Why use a template repository like this? Why make a Python package at all, as opposed to writing custom scripts or Jupyter Notebooks?

The answer, in short, is sustainable and reproducible software development. Here are some of the benefits:

• Your package can be easily installed by others using pip.
• Your package can have automated unit tests that run every time you make a commit, making sure you don't accidentally break your own code.
• You can easily make and share documentation with no hassle.
• You will instantly be adopting good programming practices that will help you for life.

Of course, there are many more reasons, but hopefully that's convincing enough!

Alternatives

This is by no means the only template of its kind. Some alternatives include:

• cookiecutter and cookiecutter-cms
• pyscaffold
• python-package-template

... and many more.

Feel free to use them if you wish! This template repository exists because we are all opinionated people, and this template focuses on things that I value most. But the point is to just use something that works well for you.