Python25.zip

[Colin J. Williams]

Dennis Lee Bieber wrote:
> On Thu, 30 Nov 2006 18:14:11 -0500, "Colin J. Williams"
> <cjw at sympatico.ca> declaimed the following in comp.lang.python:
> 
>> As part of the Python initialization, C:\Windows\System32\Python25.zip 
>> is set up in the path.
>>
>> I haven't seen any documentation on the use or purpose of the zip file.
>>
> 	Well, did you examine the contents of it?
There is no such file in C:\Windows\System32 - Python 2.5 on a Windows XP
> 
> 	I believe for some versions now, "import" can pull from a ZIP
> archive -- perhaps they've put the many standard library imports into a
> single file...
Yes, since 2.3 - thanks to Fredrick for the pointer to PEP 273.  That 
gives the helpful warning that the above should follow the home 
directory in the path list.

PEP 302 says "[PYTHONPATH] is directly needed for Zip imports."

The role of Python25.zip is not clear.  Is it required in the path just 
to enable the import X.zip capability?

Colin W.