py_compilefiles

py_compilefiles [OPTIONS] [PATH...]
PATH can be one or more Python source files or directories containing them.

PATH
    One or more paths (files or directories) containing Python source code to be compiled. If a directory is specified, it is typically traversed recursively.

-O
    Compile with optimization level 1, removing assert statements and storing bytecode in .pyo files. Often controlled by environment or build system.

-OO
    Compile with optimization level 2, removing assert statements and docstrings, storing bytecode in .pyo files. Often controlled by environment or build system.

-f, --force
    Force recompilation of all files, even if their timestamps indicate they are up-to-date with their bytecode.

-q, --quiet
    Suppress most output messages during the compilation process.

-x REGEX
    Exclude files or directories matching the specified regular expression during recursive compilation.

py_compilefiles is a utility primarily used in Linux distribution packaging (e.g., RPMs, Debian packages) to batch compile Python source code files (.py) into optimized bytecode files (.pyc and optionally .pyo). This process translates human-readable Python code into an intermediate format that the Python interpreter can execute more quickly.

While not a standalone command on all systems, it typically wraps the Python standard library's compileall module, simplifying the compilation of entire directories or specified file lists. Its main purpose is to prepare Python applications for distribution, ensuring faster startup times and efficient execution without needing to compile on the end-user's system.

This command is often an abstraction or a macro provided by Python packaging tools (like python-rpm-macros or dh_python in Debian) rather than a standalone executable with a fixed command-line interface. Its exact behavior and available options can depend on the specific packaging environment or wrapper script implementation.

Compiled bytecode (.pyc or .pyo) is specific to the Python version it was compiled with and might not be compatible across major Python versions (e.g., Python 3.8 .pyc is not compatible with Python 3.9).

In distribution packaging, py_compilefiles is crucial for optimizing deployed Python applications. It avoids the need for on-the-fly compilation at runtime, reducing application startup overhead and improving overall performance for end-users, especially for large Python codebases.

By default, bytecode files (.pyc) are generated in a __pycache__ subdirectory next to the corresponding source file. When optimization is applied (e.g., with -O), the files are named .pyo (though often still placed in __pycache__ with a specific tag reflecting optimization level).

The concept of pre-compiling Python source code into bytecode has been integral to Python since its early versions to improve execution speed. The compileall module, which py_compilefiles typically leverages, was introduced to simplify batch compilation. Over time, as Python gained popularity for application development, packaging systems for Linux distributions (like RPM and Debian packages) integrated utilities like py_compilefiles (often as macros or scripts) to automate the bytecode compilation step during software build processes, ensuring efficient deployment of Python applications.

python(1), python -m compileall (the underlying module), dh_python(1) (Debian/Ubuntu Python packaging helper), rpm(8) (RPM package manager)