#32316: Access __file__ lazily rather than at module level
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
               Reporter:  William    |          Owner:  William Schwartz
  Schwartz                           |
                   Type:             |         Status:  assigned
  Cleanup/optimization               |
              Component:             |        Version:  master
  Uncategorized                      |
               Severity:  Normal     |       Keywords:  freezers
           Triage Stage:             |      Has patch:  0
  Unreviewed                         |
    Needs documentation:  0          |    Needs tests:  0
Patch needs improvement:  0          |  Easy pickings:  0
                  UI/UX:  0          |
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
 So-called ''frozen'' Python environments (such as those mentioned in
 #30950) that do not set all modules' ​`__file__` variable, which
 [https://docs.python.org/3/reference/import.html#__file__ need not be
 defined], cannot even import Django (without some workarounds) because a
 small number of Django modules use `__file__` at the module level, in a
 class defined at the module level, or in a function that is called
 automatically upon import.

 Five modules that use `__file__` like this are likely to be imported when
 using Django and thereby cause a frozen Python to crash with a `NameError`
 or similar exception.
 * Importing **`django.forms.renderers`** can be avoided only by avoiding
 both forms and the ORM altogether as it's imported from
 `django.db.models`.
 * Importing **`django.views.debug`** might be avoidable if `DEBUG=False`
 or by avoiding all of the views and URLs APIs.
 * **`django.utils.version`**'s `get_git_changeset` is called when `django`
 is imported in pre-alpha development versions.
 * Importing **`django.contrib.auth.password_validation`** is only
 avoidable by not using the Auth app.
 * **`django.utils.translation.trans_real`** uses `__file__` to find
 Django's localization files upon activation; this avoidable only by
 setting `USE_I18N=False`. Dealing with `trans_real` is sufficiently thorny
 (and, being an English speaker with English-speaking clients, I can avoid
 it for now) that I will not address it further here except to say that it
 might need to be part of the larger discussion at #30950.

 == What this ticket is '''''not'''''

 '''''I am not proposing removing use of `__file__` at this time.''''' That
 would require a longer discussion of intended semantics such as #30950.
 This ticket is ''only'' about removing use of `__file__` at the module (or
 class definition) level in Django application code (not test code).
 Further '''''I am not proposing banning use of `__file__` at the module
 level at this time''''', hence minimal new tests and no update to the
 Django coding style documentation. That too would require a longer
 conversation.

 == Proposed fixes

 I have pushed PR GH-XXXX to address the four of those modules other than
 `trans_real`. I dealt with each module's use of `__file__`  in separate
 commits to make them easier to discuss and separate/cherry-pick if needed.
 Below I link to the individual commits as I discuss each of the four
 modules. These first two are fairly easy, but the second two may require
 further consideration.

 === `django.forms.renders`
 
([https://github.com/wkschwartz/django/commit/54d539c8becbd6d4cfc5bcf01c1be64acd34568d
 54d539c])
 Remove the undocumented module constant `ROOT` and replace its single use.

 === `django.utils.version`
 
([https://github.com/wkschwartz/django/commit/f4edc6e412df87e05ed224525ebf1355410fe268
 f4edc6e])
 Treat the lack of module-global `__file__` the same as a failure of `git
 log` by returning `None` from `get_git_changeset`.

 === `django.views.debug`
 
([https://github.com/wkschwartz/django/commit/07f46b7b26a1a74fa531de834bee240d576b7f85
 07f46b7])
 The module-level constant `CURRENT_DIR` is used only in the module itself
 and is undocumented, so I'm assuming it's an obscure private symbol that
 no one will miss. I've replaced it with a module-level private function
 `_builtin_template_path` that refactors and centralizes finding built-in
 templates for the entire module.

 The one tricky part is that #32105 added the `html_template_path` and
 `text_template_path` attributes `django.views.debug.ExceptionReporter`. I
 didn't want to disturb #32105's goal of making the template paths easily
 override-able, so I avoided calling `_builtin_template_path` in the class
 definition by making detecting the presence of the attributes in
 `__init__` and setting defaults there. Alternatives include making the
 attributes properties with setters or cached properties without setters.

 === `django.contrib.auth.password_validation`
 
([https://github.com/wkschwartz/django/commit/24aa80ba413eeaaec0f3c2cab2f028e0dcbaf99b
 24aa80b])
 The `CommonPasswordValidator`-class constant `DEFAULT_PASSWORD_LIST_PATH`
 is used only in one place, the class's instance constructor. While the
 nature of `DEFAULT_PASSWORD_LIST_PATH` is not documented, its existence is
 inside the docs for the
 
[https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/3.1/topics/auth/passwords/#django.contrib.auth.password_validation.CommonPasswordValidator
 constructor's signature]. I've changed `DEFAULT_PASSWORD_LIST_PATH` from a
 class constant into an instance attribute. Another possibility is making
 `DEFAULT_PASSWORD_LIST_PATH` be a `django.utils.functional.classproperty`.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/32316>
Django <https://code.djangoproject.com/>
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