CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonpython-2.7
Sambhav Sharma
Sambhav Sharma

Reputation: 5860

python configuration at compile time

As of now we have a file conf.py which stores most of our configuration variables for the service. We have code similar to this:

environment = 'dev' # could be dev, local, staging, production
configa = 'something'
configb = 'something else'

if environment = 'dev':
    configa = 'something dev'

elif environment = 'local':
    configa = 'something local'

Is this the right way to manage configuration file in a python project? Are these configuration loaded into variables at compile time (while creating pyc files), or are the if conditions checked every time the conf is imported in a python script or is it every time a configuration variable is accessed?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 687

Answers (3)

alex10
alex10

Reputation: 2756

You must create a file, example settings.py, add the path to the module where the file to the system. Example:

sys.path.append(os.path.dirname(__file__))

Аfter anywhere you can import the file and to obtain from any setting:

import settings

env = settings.environment

Similarly, many working frameworks.

Upvotes: 0

Lewis Fogden
Lewis Fogden

Reputation: 524

This is subjective but there is a good discussion in this post: What's the best practice using a settings file in Python?

With your method, it will be treated the same way as any other python script, i.e. on import. If you wanted it updated on access/or without restarting the service it is best to use an external/non-python config file (e.g. json, .ini) and set up functionality to refresh the file.

Upvotes: 2

ThiefMaster
ThiefMaster

Reputation: 318518

All code runs at import time. But since you are unlikely to import your application again and again while it's running you can ignore the (minimal) overhead.

Upvotes: 2

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