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-rw-r--r--Doc/library/site.rst13
1 files changed, 13 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Doc/library/site.rst b/Doc/library/site.rst
index 9e4d402..e1ca160 100644
--- a/Doc/library/site.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/site.rst
@@ -61,6 +61,19 @@ directory rather than a file. No item is added to ``sys.path`` more than
once. Blank lines and lines beginning with ``#`` are skipped. Lines starting
with ``import`` (followed by space or tab) are executed.
+.. note::
+
+ An executable line in a :file:`.pth` file is run at every Python startup,
+ regardless of whether a particular module is actually going to be used.
+ Its impact should thus be kept to a minimum.
+ The primary intended purpose of executable lines is to make the
+ corresponding module(s) importable
+ (load 3rd-party import hooks, adjust :envvar:`PATH` etc).
+ Any other initialization is supposed to be done upon a module's
+ actual import, if and when it happens.
+ Limiting a code chunk to a single line is a deliberate measure
+ to discourage putting anything more complex here.
+
.. index::
single: package
triple: path; configuration; file