What is Cookiecutter

Cookiecutter is a versatile command-line tool that allows developers to create projects from predefined templates. With Cookiecutter, you can quickly and easily generate a project structure based on a customizable template, saving you time and effort in setting up the basic framework for your projects. It is written in Python and is available under the open-source BSD license, making it accessible for developers across different platforms.

Benefits of Cookiecutter

There are several benefits to using Cookiecutter in your development workflow:

• Speed
  By using a Cookiecutter template, you can quickly generate a project structure, allowing you to focus on writing code and implementing features.

• Consistency
  Cookiecutter templates help ensure that your projects follow a consistent structure and layout, making it easier to navigate and maintain your codebase.

• Best Practices
  Many templates are created by experienced developers who incorporate industry best practices, which can help improve your own code quality.

• Customizability
  Cookiecutter templates can be easily customized and extended to suit your specific requirements.

• Collaboration
  By using a shared template, teams can ensure that all members adhere to the same project structure, which can facilitate better collaboration and communication.

How to Use Cookiecutter

To get started with Cookiecutter, follow these steps:

1. Install Cookiecutter using pip:

$ pip install cookiecutter

2. Choose a template from the Cookiecutter repository or create your own.

3. Generate a new project using the selected template by running the following command:

$ cookiecutter https://github.com/username/repo-name.git

Replace the URL with the path to the template repository.

For example, if you want to use cookiecutter-pypackage, run the following command:

$ cookiecutter https://github.com/audreyr/cookiecutter-pypackage

full_name [Audrey Roy Greenfeld]:
email [aroy@alum.mit.edu]:
github_username [audreyr]:
project_name [Python Boilerplate]:
project_slug [python_boilerplate]:
project_short_description [Python Boilerplate contains all the boilerplate you need to create a Python package.]:
pypi_username [audreyr]:
version [0.1.0]:
use_pytest [n]:
use_pypi_deployment_with_travis [y]:
Select command_line_interface:
1 - Click
2 - No command-line interface
Choose from 1, 2 [1]:
create_author_file [y]:
Select open_source_license:
1 - MIT license
2 - BSD license
3 - ISC license
4 - Apache Software License 2.0
5 - GNU General Public License v3
6 - Not open source
Choose from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 [1]:

Answering the interactive questions will create a project as follows:

python_boilerplate
├── AUTHORS.rst
├── CONTRIBUTING.rst
├── HISTORY.rst
├── LICENSE
├── MANIFEST.in
├── Makefile
├── README.rst
├── docs
│   ├── Makefile
│   ├── authors.rst
│   ├── conf.py
│   ├── contributing.rst
│   ├── history.rst
│   ├── index.rst
│   ├── installation.rst
│   ├── make.bat
│   ├── readme.rst
│   └── usage.rst
├── python_boilerplate
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── python_boilerplate.py
├── requirements_dev.txt
├── setup.cfg
├── setup.py
├── tests
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── test_python_boilerplate.py
├── tox.ini
└── travis_pypi_setup.py

Exploring Popular Cookiecutter Templates

There are numerous Cookiecutter templates available for various programming languages, frameworks, and purposes. Here, we will explore two popular templates:

Cookiecutter FastAPI

https://github.com/arthurhenrique/cookiecutter-fastapi

This template is designed for building web applications using the FastAPI framework.

Cookiecutter Data Science

https://github.com/drivendata/cookiecutter-data-science

The Cookiecutter Data Science template is tailored for data science projects, incorporating a standardized structure to organize your code, data, and analyses. It includes support for Jupyter notebooks, data versioning, and reproducible research.

Customizing Cookiecutter Templates

You can customize an existing template by cloning the repository and making modifications to the template files. This enables you to tailor the template to your specific needs and preferences.

Creating Your Own Cookiecutter Template

If you can't find a suitable template or want to create a custom one for your specific use case, follow these steps:

1. Create a new directory with the desired template name.
2. Add a cookiecutter.json file, which will store your template configuration, including default values for variables.
3. Create your template files and directories, using Jinja2 syntax to include variables and control structures.
4. Test your template by running the cookiecutter command with the local directory path:

$ cookiecutter path/to/your/template

References

https://cookiecutter.readthedocs.io/en/stable/
https://github.com/cookiecutter/cookiecutter
https://cookiecutter.readthedocs.io/en/1.7.2/installation.html
https://training.talkpython.fm/courses/explore_cookiecutter_course/using-and-mastering-cookiecutter-templates-for-project-creation