PyCatalyst

Automate Python project setup with this script, creating a virtual environment, directories, and initializing version control, helping you start coding Python projects faster.

Python Project Quickstart Script

As someone who loves experimenting with Python libraries and APIs, starting new projects quickly is important. Setting up these projects can sometimes be time-consuming, and a bit annoying to be honest.

So, I wrote this nifty shell script to automate the process and get to the fun part—coding—faster. Here's what it does:

• Prompts the user to provide a project name as a command-line argument.
• Creates a new project directory with the specified name.
• Sets up a virtual environment and installs dependencies.
• Installs required Python dependencies using pip.
• Creates sub-directories for source code, tests, and documentation.
• Generates essential files like main.py, requirements.txt, and README.md.
• Initializes a Git repository for version control.
• Opens the main.py file in Visual Studio Code in a new window.
• [Optional] Sets the remote repository's URL with the user's GitHub username and project name.
• [Optional] Creates a new private repository on GitHub with the specified project name using GitHub CLI (gh) and links it to the remote repository.

Pre-requisites

To be able to create a GitHub repo automatically, you need to install the GitHub CLI. Follow the instructions here: GitHub CLI Quickstart

brew install gh
gh auth login

Setting up the script

1. Download this repository and navigate to the downloaded folder.

2. Make the script executable by running the following command:

chmod +x pycatalyst.sh

Running the script

To create a new Python project, open your terminal and run the script with the desired project name as an argument (replace my_project with your desired project name):

./pycatalyst.sh my_project

[Optional] Create an Alias

To make it even easier to start a new project, you can create an alias for the script. Here's how:

1. Open your shell's configuration file using a text editor (e.g., ~/.bashrc for Bash or ~/.zshrc for Zsh):

nano ~/.bashrc
# or if you're using zsh
nano ~/.zshrc

2. Add the following line at the end of the file, replacing /path/to/pycatalyst.sh with the actual path to your shell script:

alias newproject='/path/to/pycatalyst.sh'

3. Save the file and exit the text editor.

Now, you can start a new Python project simply by running:

newproject <project_name>

Why Use This Script Over Tools Like Cookiecutter?

I like this over Cookiecutter or similar packages because of its simplicity. Most of my projects start as a quick experiment or hacky thing and don't need the bells and whistles of a Cookiecutter template. I also want to do a few things automatically:

• Integration with Dropbox: This is a bit of a personal choice, but I sync and backup to Dropbox. This script allows me to point to a directory within Dropbox, making sure all projects are synced and backed up automatically.
• Virtual Environment Setup: This is important to me. I don't want to do this manually each time. This script automates the creation and activation of a virtual environment, a step that’s more manual with something like Cookiecutter.
• Dependency Installation: Installs dependencies immediately after setting up the virtual environment, saving an extra step. In the future, I could definitely have it pull from requirements.txt.
• GitHub Repository Creation: This again is something custom for me. I like creating a GitHub repo for all my projects, so I can push them there when I am ready to. The script uses the GitHub CLI to create a new repository on GitHub and set up the remote repository seamlessly.
• Opening the Project in Visual Studio Code: This is the simplest, but perhaps the most annoying thing that the script solves. Once I have created the project, it opens the new project in VS Code and brings the main.py file into focus, so I can start coding right away.

Feel free to tweak it to suit your needs and let me know if you find it useful!

Happy coding!

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Fin!