pyc files located elsewhere?

[Peter L Hansen]

Josiah Carlson wrote:
> I don't know if it is possible to automatically write to a different
> path, but I /think/ one can /turn off/ writing .pyc files, but it would
> necessarily make running the script slower (you don't get cached .pyc
> files, so every import requires a py->ptc compilation).

Just to clarify (and I don't know turning that feature off is really
possible, so maybe it's a useless point), but not *every* import will
require the compilation.  The first import of any given module will
require the compilation, each time you run the application.  If a
module is imported fifty times, all but the first just retrieve
the module from sys.modules, same as normal.

(Is what you describe really possible?  I've never heard of it.)

-Peter