[Python-Dev] Re: updated imputil

[James C. Ahlstrom]

Greg Stein wrote:
> * A separate importer to just load dynamic libraries: this would need to
>   replicate PathImporter's mapping of Python module/package hierarchy onto
>   the filesystem. There would also be a sequencing issue because one
>   Importer's paths would be searched before the other's paths. Current
>   Python import rules establishes that a module earlier in sys.path
>   (whether a dyn-lib or not) is loaded before one later in the path. This
>   behavior could be broken if two Importers were used.

I would like to argue that on Windows, import of dynamic libraries is
broken.  If a file something.pyd is imported, then sys.path is searched
to find the module.  If a file something.dll is imported, the same thing
happens.  But Windows defines its own search order for *.dll files which
Python ignores.  I would suggest that this is wrong for files named
*.dll,
but OK for files named *.pyd.

A SysAdmin should be able to install and maintain *.dll as she has
been trained to do.  This makes maintaining Python installations
simpler and more un-surprising.

I have no solution to the backward compatibilty problem.  But the
code is only a couple lines.  A LoadLibrary() call does its own
path searching.

Jim Ahlstrom