Python25.zip

[Georg Brandl]

Colin J. Williams wrote:
> 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?

No. It's there just *in case* you have a Python25.zip lying around containing
the library. By default, it isn't.

Georg