Dependency on websockets

[Flix6x]

#43 first introduced websockets as a dependency, but the message classes in the s2-python package should also be usable outside of a WebSocket implementation, right?

Might I suggest making it into an optional subpackage?¹ So users could then choose between:²

pip install s2-python  # install S2 messages as Python classes
pip install s2-python[ws]  # include support for WebSockets

Notes:

Footnotes

1. This concerns s2_connection.py and associated examples. ↩

2. I imagine future extensions like pip install s2-python[mqtt] ↩

[wcoenraads]

I like this suggestion! It would be nice to have a clean split between types that are useful for any S2 implementation, and tooling that makes it easy to work with a specific format/protocol (ws/JSON in our case).

Is this common enough in the Python world that users will know to enable the subpackage? Or is there a way to make it enabled by default, but possible to disable for those who don't want websockets/JSON?

[Flix6x]

Is this common enough in the Python world that users will know to enable the subpackage?

I believe it is. For instance, Pandas uses it (pip install pandas[excel]). We've used it, too.

Or is there a way to make it enabled by default, but possible to disable for those who don't want websockets/JSON?

This is not an approach I've seen before with pip (nor after a few minutes of research). Of course, any installation instructions would deserve a prominent place in the documentation for this package.