[Discussion] Convert Makefile into a Python script

Proposal: Convert Makefile into a Python script

Last updated: June 6th

Abstract

As of today, OSX and Linux users are able to have hot-reloading thanks to Makefile logic that creates hard-links on a given service/folder, however this is currently not possible for Windows due to Operating Systems differences.

Windows hard links seem to be supported when using Python and this proposal aims to convert this Makefile to make these features more accessible to everyone. Additionally, this could open the opportunity to add other mechanisms such as deployment asked here https://github.com/aws-samples/cookiecutter-aws-sam-python/pull/2 and make the packaging feature more explicit.

Background

When Windows customers try to use Makefile for hot-reloading or easier Python packaging they need to install Git Bash or Windows Sub-system in order to get access to UNIX tools to make this work.

Linux and OSX users also expressed they’d like to have requirements.txt or Pipfile per function and not at the project level as well as a deploy target, of which would add complexity to Makefile and error prone not to mention that is difficult to test Makefile changes today.

Proposal

I propose porting Makefile essential features to a Python CLI script that would include:

• build
• package
• run
• test
• clean

Rationale

By implementing this Python CLI script we could also give more options to customers and be less opinionated as to where their dependencies should be declared and more importantly allow for testing this functionality as Makefile is only for advanced users.

Difficulty here is deciding on a name for this Python CLI script because setup.py is widely used for Python Packaging with setuptools and manage.py is used for Django Apps so perhaps bootstrap.py could fit the bill here.

Also needs some thinking whether it makes sense to use only requirements.txt to simplify initial design or to support both Pipfile and requirements.txt.

Compatibility

No breaking change to the application itself

Implementation

This could be implemented using Python Click or pure Python Argparse to avoid additional dependencies:

• Move test folder inside the function
• Create a test folder to explicitly have tests for this Python CLI script
• Add the following targets
  • build
    • Install deps and creates structure for hot-reloading without having to build a wrapper or anything
    • Define parameter for Source Code directory and optional for requirements.txt/Pipfile
  • package
    • Install deps and builds a Lambda compliant ZIP package and optionally with LambCI Docker Lambda Runtime when needed
    • Define parameter to allow straight up zip instead of installing deps in case they are already ready
  • run
    • Runs sam local start-api and supports for running Lambda containers within a Docker network
  • test
    • Runs pytest and set XRAY env to run that locally
    • Define parameter for specifying tests folder
• clean
  • Deletes zip file and build folder

[heitorlessa]

This will no longer be needed due to SAM now supports build

[h1f1x]

Hi,

I liked the idea of having a makefile instead of a python script. Acceptance (of developers) seems a little higher these times. And it seems a little bit of reinventing the wheel? I am using pybuilder for some years. Maybe you take a look into it [1]. This seems to be doing stuff you like, but introduce another dependency.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jufUqH3bDG0