Plugins in python - how it is done

Have you ever wondered how popular tools like pytest or tox are able to discover and use plugins? In this talk we will learn about entry-points in Python package metadata and how they enable plugin discovery. We will review how some popular projects are using this mechanism to create their plugin systems. After a walkthrough of the basics, we will explore how you can use this to create a plugin mechanism for your own project. We will explore possible hook implementations and their advantages and disadvantages. Finally we will learn how to make plugins discoverable on PyPi.