Do I need to bundle the Python interpreter (in py2exe) when I am distributing my app?

Question

I have a small Python app ready that I'd like to distribute around to my friends in the company.

I have used wxWidgets for the GUI, with SQLite for the database.

I'm planning on using py2exe for packaging the entire thing.

I'd like to know if bundling the Python interpreter is required ? Does py2exe does it by default ? My friends wont have Python installed on their systems.

Are there any extra libraries that I should bundle for the GUI ?

I want this to run only on Windows, nothing else.

Answer 1

Last time I did it (which admittedly was some time ago), py2exe bundled everything into the executable.

This fairly concise document talks about external dependencies, such MSVC runtime DLLs.

I also suggest taking a look at the following past questions:

• py2exe + sqlalchemy + sqlite problem
• When using py2exe, PyQt application cannot load SQlite database

If I were you, I'd give it a shot and come back with specific questions if things don't work as you expect.

Answer 2

py2exe must bundle the Python interpreter--how else would your friends without Python use your program without it? But it does, of course.

py2exe mostly includes what needs to be included based on what is imported into your app, so if you have import sqlite3 in there, it will be included. I'd try using GUI2Exe, it makes using py2exe so much more intuitive and easier.