On the python-dev mailing list, a question has be raised about a change to module.__file__ in Python 3.
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/python/dev/674923#674923 In Python 2.x, m.__file__ is the name of the file that the module was imported from. That file might end with .py, .pyc, .pyo, or even more exotic extensions if Python's import mechanism has been customized. For reasons explained here: http://bugs.python.org/issue1762972 Python 3.0 will introduce a patch that makes m.__file__ always specify the source file (.py) if it exists, and only if that file doesn't exist will it specify the actual file used (.pyc or .pyo). That will mean that there will be no (easy?) way to determine after the import whether the module was imported from a source file or a compiled file. I've suggested that the original justification for the patch no longer applies, and that the secondary purpose of the patch is better solved by leaving __file__ as it is in Python 2.x, and introducing a new attribute __source__. What do people think? There seems to be a little interest on the python- dev list from a couple of people, but not enough to actually lead to any action. Does anyone care what m.__file__ is? Does anyone else feel that this issue is worth pursuing? -- Steven -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
