I think Compiling Python Code would be a good place to start:
Python source code is automatically
compiled into Python byte code by the
CPython interpreter. Compiled code is
usually stored in PYC (or PYO) files,
and is regenerated when the source is
updated, or when otherwise necessary.To distribute a program to people who
already have Python installed, you can
ship either the PY files or the PYC
files. In recent versions, you can
also create a ZIP archive containing
PY or PYC files, and use a small
“bootstrap script” to add that ZIP
archive to the path.To “compile” a Python program into an
executable, use a bundling tool, such
as Gordon McMillan’s installer
(alternative download)
(cross-platform), Thomas Heller’s
py2exe (Windows), Anthony Tuininga’s
cx_Freeze (cross-platform), or Bob
Ippolito’s py2app (Mac). These tools
puts your modules and data files in
some kind of archive file, and creates
an executable that automatically sets
things up so that modules are imported
from that archive. Some tools can
embed the archive in the executable
itself.