[Python-Dev] PEP 402: Simplified Package Layout and Partitioning

[Barry Warsaw]

On Aug 11, 2011, at 04:39 PM, Éric Araujo wrote:

>> * XXX what is the __file__ of a "pure virtual" package?  ``None``?
>>   Some arbitrary string?  The path of the first directory with a
>>   trailing separator?  No matter what we put, *some* code is
>>   going to break, but the last choice might allow some code to
>>   accidentally work.  Is that good or bad?
>A pure virtual package having no source file, I think it should have no
>__file__ at all.  I don’t know if that would break more code than using
>an empty string for example, but it feels righter.

I agree that the empty string is the worst of the choices.  no __file__ or
__file__=None is better.

-Barry