
``py_compile`` --- Compile Python source files
**********************************************

The ``py_compile`` module provides a function to generate a byte-code
file from a source file, and another function used when the module
source file is invoked as a script.

Though not often needed, this function can be useful when installing
modules for shared use, especially if some of the users may not have
permission to write the byte-code cache files in the directory
containing the source code.

exception py_compile.PyCompileError

   Exception raised when an error occurs while attempting to compile
   the file.

py_compile.compile(file[, cfile[, dfile[, doraise]]])

   Compile a source file to byte-code and write out the byte-code
   cache  file.  The source code is loaded from the file name *file*.
   The  byte-code is written to *cfile*, which defaults to *file*
   ``+`` ``'c'`` (``'o'`` if optimization is enabled in the current
   interpreter).  If *dfile* is specified, it is used as the name of
   the source file in error messages instead of *file*.  If *doraise*
   is true, a ``PyCompileError`` is raised when an error is
   encountered while compiling *file*. If *doraise* is false (the
   default), an error string is written to ``sys.stderr``, but no
   exception is raised.

py_compile.main([args])

   Compile several source files.  The files named in *args* (or on the
   command line, if *args* is not specified) are compiled and the
   resulting bytecode is cached in the normal manner.  This function
   does not search a directory structure to locate source files; it
   only compiles files named explicitly.

When this module is run as a script, the ``main()`` is used to compile
all the files named on the command line.  The exit status is nonzero
if one of the files could not be compiled.

See also:

   Module ``compileall``
      Utilities to compile all Python source files in a directory
      tree.
