Lack of Python eggs?

Question

Are there any disadvantages to using eggs through easy-install compared to the "traditional" packages / modules / libs?

Answer 1

One (potential) drawback is that the eggs fasten by default, unless zip_safe=False is set in their setup() function in setup.py . If the egg is zipped, you cannot get into the files in it (without unpacking it, obviously). If the module itself uses files other than the original ones (for example, templates), it will probably indicate zip_safe=False , but another consequence is that you cannot efficiently enter zipped modules using pdb , the Python debugger. That is, you can, but you cannot see the source or move correctly.

Answer 2

Using eggs causes a long sys.path to be searched, and when it is really long, that search may take some time. Only when you get a hundred entries or so will that be a problem (but installing hundreds of eggs via easy_install is certainly possible).