[Python-Dev] Does Zip Importer have to be Special?

[Phil Thompson]

On 24/07/2014 9:42 pm, Nick Coghlan wrote:
> On 25 Jul 2014 03:51, "Brett Cannon" <brett at python.org> wrote:
> 
>> The problem with all of this is you are essentially asking for a hook 
>> to
> let you have code have access to the interpreter state before it is 
> fully
> initialized. Zipimport and the various bits of code that get loaded 
> during
> startup are special since they are coded to avoid touching anything 
> that
> isn't ready to be used. So if we expose something that allows access 
> prior
> to full initialization it would have to be documented as having no
> guarantees of interpreter state, etc. so we are not held to some API 
> that
> makes future improvements difficult.
> 
> Note that this is *exactly* the problem PEP 432 is designed to handle:
> separating the configuration of the core interpreter from the 
> configuration
> of the operating system interfaces, so the latter can run relatively
> normally (at least compared to today).

The implementation of PEP 432 would be great.

> As you say, though it's a niche problem compared to something like
> packaging, which is why it got bumped down my personal priority list. I
> haven't even got back to the first preparatory step I identified which 
> is
> to separate out our main functions to a separate "Programs" directory 
> so
> it's easier to distinguish "embeds Python" sections of the code from 
> the
> more typical "is part of Python" and "extends Python" code.

Is there any way for somebody you don't trust :) to be able to help move 
it forward?

Phil