How to make a c++ or a python file to be able to open in 2 clicks?

Question

I know what you're thinking. "Simple! Double click the file, and done!". Oh no, I don't mean it like that. Let's say I want to publish my new application I made to the world via github or any other platforms. If the user doesn't have e.g. if the application is made with C++, MinGW, or if the application is made with Python, python, they won't be able to open the file. How can I make it be openable for everyone with double click? I might sound stupid, but please, lmk :)

Answer 1

I think what you're looking for is an installer. That will install the application and all of its dependencies.

For .NET applications, the command line interface (CLI) dotnet publish command does this for you.

In Python, you can create a requirements.txt file and pip install . will read that file and install the requirements for the user. Some reading material: https://packaging.python.org/en/latest/tutorials/installing-packages/

I haven't worked with C++ for a while, but as far as I know, the output directory contains everything you need in C++. So the installer should package that one, or you just zip up that directory.

Obviously, if you use further environments, such as MinGW, then it's more than just zipping up the bin dir. Again, installer? :)

Comments

What do you mean? Like create a "requirements.txt" file, put in some "pip install " packages in it, and done? Like I want to make an application with tkinter, so all I'll have to do is put in the command "pip install tkinter" into the "requirements.txt" file?

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Please, read this on how to create the requirements file: https://learnpython.com/blog/python-requirements-file/

Short answer, no, it's not a command file. It will only contain line-by-line the packages that are needed for your code to compile.

Answer 2

I think double clicking is part of your operating system, and you need to ensure that your operating system knows what to do with python files. 

You have to remember that to the operating system, the python file is a simply a block of plain text. (probably wirth a py extension)

In most cases though these steps will resolve the issue.

First, make sure the first line of your python script has a correcr shebang line - it probably should using Linux/MacOs. This is less important on Windowns. 

Secondly, make sure the file is marked as executable by you - on Linux/MacOs this command chmod+x <script.py> should be sufficient. On Windowns use the File Explore to change the permissions. 

On Windowns also use settings to set that Windowns should open '.py' files using Python.

Finally, if you have done all of this and your python file still doesn't appear to run correctly, then it is worth looking at exactly what your script does. For instance a script that only genmerates output to a terminal, won't necessarily keep that terminal open after the script stops - so you might need to insert a pause or some form of delay in order to see the output. It also might be worth changing your script so that generates a log file, so that you can get more information about what happens when it executes.