[Python-Dev] __pycache__ creation

[Henning von Bargen]

Antoine Pitrou wrote:
 > > or if a user installs by dragging into
 > > site-packages instead of using an installer?
 >
 > Well... do people actually do this?

Why not?

And it is also common to just set the PYTHONPATH environment variable
instead of using setup.py install or copy the files to the
lib/site-packages directory.

I prefer it that way because it gives a clean separation between
standard library files and application specific files.
For example, if I want to use another Python version, I can just
delete the python26 directory because I know it doesn't contain
any application-specific code, just the standard library files.

Considering the complexity, the risks and the benefit of the
whole __pycache__ thingie, I'm -1...

Henning