containing DLLs on Windows), as well as different forms for different operating systems and Python versions. A single entry on PyPI is able to store, aside from just a package and its metadata, previous releases of the package, precompiled wheels (e.g. PyPI as an index allows users to search for packages by keywords or by filters against their metadata, such as free software license or compatibility with POSIX.

PyPI primarily hosts Python packages in the form of archives called sdists (source distributions) or precompiled 'wheels.'

Īs of 17 January 2022, more than 350,000 Python packages can be accessed through PyPI. Some package managers, including pip, use PyPI as the default source for packages and their dependencies. PyPI is run by the Python Software Foundation, a charity. It is analogous to the CPAN repository for Perl and to the CRAN repository for R. The Python Package Index, abbreviated as PyPI ( / ˌ p aɪ p i ˈ aɪ/) and also known as the Cheese Shop (a reference to the Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch ' Cheese Shop'), is the official third-party software repository for Python.

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