"pip install --editable ./" vs "python setup.py develop"
Try to avoid calling setup.py directly, it will not properly tell pip that you've installed your package.
With pip install -e:
For local projects, the “SomeProject.egg-info” directory is createdrelative to the project path. This is one advantage over just using
setup.py develop, which creates the “egg-info” directly relative thecurrent working directory.
More: docs
Also read the setuptools' docs.
One more difference: pip install -e uses wheel whilepython setup.py develop
doesn't use it.
With install, you could achieve the same behavior by usingpip install -e /path/to/package --no-use-wheel
More info on wheels : python wheels
Another difference that may favor pip install -e is that if your project has dependencies in install_requires in setup.py, then pip install -e . installs dependencies with pip, while python setup.py develop can install with easy_install, and may cause problems re: 'egg-info' as mentioned above. When install-requires uses dependency_links with custom git URLs, with attached egg identifiers, this can be especially annoying.