On Aug 27, 2011, at 6:49 PM, Josh English wrote:
> When I run: os.listdir('c:\Python27\lib\site-packages') I get the contents in
> order, so the folders come before .pth files (as nothing comes before
> something.)
That's one definition of "in order". =)
> I would guess Python is using os.listdir. Why wouldn't it?
If you mean that Python uses os.listdir() during import resolution, then yes I
agree that's probable. And os.listdir() doesn't guarantee any consistent order.
In fact, the documentation explicitly states that the list is returned in
arbitrary order. Like a lot of things in Python, os.listdir() probably relies
on the underlying C library which varies from system to system. (Case in point
-- on my Mac, os.listdir() returns things in the same order as the 'ls'
command, which is case-sensitive alphabetical, files & directories mixed --
different from Windows.)
So if import relies on os.listdir(), then you're relying on arbitrary
resolution when you have a .pth file that shadows a site-packages directory.
Those rules will probably work consistently on your particular system, you're
developing a habit around what is essentially an implementation quirk.
Cheers
Philip
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