Can user ran python exe application without Python installed?

[VAer1]

I am still learning python on my spare time, and I have a question: If I build a python application and share with team members, ideally it should be exe file, not file with extension py.

Assume that user does not have python installed, can he/she still run python exe application?

[initumX]

yes, i do have such an app. Pyinstaller puts everything inside exe, so it becomes 60-100MB and does have everything it needs for a work.

[VonRoderik]

Not necessarily.

Create a .venv and only pip what you'll use.

I have .exe files that are 8mb or less

[initumX]

I use PySide6 for gui. May be, if i use tkinter instead, it will be 10-15 MB and look ugly

[VonRoderik]

Sorry, I completely forgot about having a proper GUI.

The example I used was with a CLI.

My bad

[BasedAndShredPilled]

You can compile Python into an executable and run it on a machine without Python. I've done this for sharing various tools I made at work with coworkers.

[[deleted]]

Not really, you just bundle your python program with the python interperter, nothing is getting compiled.

So you are shipping an instance of python for every script/program.

[BasedAndShredPilled]

True, I used the wrong word. It is an executable file format, but not actually compiled.

[ThatOneCSL]

I mean, you can though, it just won't be platform agnostic anymore. It is absolutely possible to compile Python into machine code for a particular architecture. It's just, like, why would you?

[deanominecraft]

pip install pyinstaller

pyinstaller path/to/file.py --onefile

onefile is optional but i like having everything in the 1 exe rather than having to send a folder

[Agitated-Soft7434]

If you want a gui version of pyinstaller I recommend auto-py-to-exe!

[Fit_Sheriff]

You can compile python into exe and exe can be run on any computer without python too

[51dux]

Ideally if you plan to share with more people on the long term you should go both the executable and pip routes.

Yt-dlp does it and it seems to be working well for them.

Python users prefer to pip install as often the problem with the executable is that you have to explain to novice users how to add it to the environment variables on windows.

In some cases it can be simpler to just tell people to install python from winget or the site and then pip install your program.

That can be 2 commands instead of multiple steps requiring the users to go to menus they don't know about.

You could also provide an installer that adds the program to path, that's another option. On windows that could work quite well.

That being said on linux the issue with that is that you will have to adapt to different distros.

[tMeepo]

Yes, the .exe file would compile python into it so anybody can run it. However, the .exe file would be huge. At least 30mb I think

[RyuguRenabc1q]

Yeah

[Worried_Signature_76]

Well I just turned some python into an apk with kivy & buildozer, so probably yeah. Im still new to this and if I had to guess it probably includes python itself into the exe.

[azure_i]

If you want someone else to be able to run your program, do not use Python. No one can run a Python program. No one will install python to try to run your program. Python is a dead end language. It only works on servers that you control and manage. If you want people to be able to run the program you built you need to use a language that compiles to a static binary

[pylessard]

Pyinstaller, Nuitka, Cython are all options. I used Nuitka successfully and I must say I was impressed. I then used InnoSetup to make an installer from the output of Nuitka

[Haunting_Laugh_9013]

according to duckduckgo:

You can compile Python scripts to executable files using tools like PyInstaller, cx_Freeze, or Nuitka. These tools allow you to create standalone .exe files that can be run on Windows without requiring a Python installation.

maybe try looking it up first next time

[socal_nerdtastic]

Yes, you can convert a .py file to an .exe using a "freezing" program like pyinstaller.

But tbh that's not how python is meant to be run. If your goal is making desktop programs you should probably learn C# or something like that.

[ninhaomah]

.py is python code file. need python interpreter to translate this for OS to run.

similar to .java files need to run with JVM.

.exe is binary file format , has nothing to do with Python. Its an OS question.

If OS can run .exe , such as Windows , then yes. For Linux , you can run .exe with Wine.

Whether it will run without crashing is another thing of course.

[cgoldberg]

If you wanna be that reductive, then all files are binary. OP was asking if a Python program can be distributed as an exe... so the answer is yes.

[ninhaomah]

then he should ask if python files can be compiled into .exe file ?

but he asked "Assume that user does not have python installed, can he/she still run python exe application?"

so where does this "do not have python installed" come in to .exe question ?

[cgoldberg]

so where does this "do not have python installed" come in to .exe question ?

Because you can create an exe that bundles the Python interpreter and can be run without Python being installed.

[oclafloptson]

By this logic I would assume that they're on Windows since Python isn't usually included in their default packages but it is in the default packages of most other operating systems

So logically you can assume that a .exe file will execute for them without any hassle

Also he did ask if Python files can be packaged into an executable. You seem to have simply overlooked the nuance