Python Components

There are probably an endless number of definitions of what constitutes a Python component. The question I have is what is the correct definition or is there a correct definition for a Python component? It seems to me that some things lean more toward being the preferred form of a Python component while others build on this concept and others still are radically different than the vanilla component.

Of course, figuring out what a component is exactly might be a good start. Using the most general idea of what a component is and what a component is not would help us to translate these properties over to the Python world. I think in the most general sense, a component is any replaceable piece of any software system. So, if a component can be pulled out of some system and replaced with an identical component that can oblige to the original interfaces. If a new component cannot do this transparently without causing the system to fail, it isn't a component. It may be considered a component once it has this described property, but until then, it isn't.

Having describe what a component is at the most basic, generic level, how do we decompose Python systems in the same way? We want to take a piece of a given system written in Python, and replace it with another piece. Obviously it needs to conform to the required and provided interfaces to the slot it wishes to fill. But aside from that, what can physically be considered a Python component. At the most fundamental level, most developers would probably consider the module a valid candidate for a Python component. A module, in Python is basically how source code is organized. Well, it is in fact a source code file that supports the modularity concept, hence the name.

The egg is another candidate for a standard Python component. Eggs are the standard method in which to distribute Python pages. In fact, eggs are Python packages. They typically contain multiple Python modules. So are eggs just another type of Python component but at a higher level than modules are? That is tough to say because eggs can be treated as if they were Python modules once they have been deployed on a given system.

The most compelling feature of using eggs, besides the ease of installation, are the entry points feature. Entry points of Python eggs offer services to other eggs installed on the system. Eggs can advertise these services for free. There is no intervening necessary on the developers' behalf. The entry points provided by eggs are also a good candidate for what can be considered a Python component simply because of the enhanced feature set that they offer.