[Tutor] project directory structure

[Ben Finney]

Alex Kleider <akleider at sonic.net> writes:

> I'm still struggling with what is the best way to set up a project
> directory.

One thing to learn is that there's no one right way that is universally
applicable.

In particular, you are asking about *social* conventions here. These are
prone to change and negotiation and exceptions.

> Assuming the latter scenario, where should one run
> virtualenv -p python3 venv?
> ... at the top level or within the second level?

I recommend keeping the virtualenv entirely *outside* the code base.
Make a directory elsewhere to hold your virtualenvs, like a directory to
hold your caches.

Removing and re-populating the virtualenv should be independent from
removing and re-populating the working tree. Hence they should be
entirely separate directories.

> The main reason I want to get this right is because all my .py files
> begin with a shebang line of the form
> #!../venv/bin/python3

That's exactly the wrong thing to do. Your shebang line should *not*
assume a custom location of the Python interpreter.

It's the responsibility of the operating system or virtualenv to provide
the Python interpreter command in a standard place.

Instead, use:

    #! /usr/bin/env python3

or:

    #! /usr/bin/python3

and leave it to the operating system and the virtualenv to provide the
Python interpreter correctly.

-- 
 \      “You've got to think about big things while you're doing small |
  `\              things, so that all the small things go in the right |
_o__)                                       direction.” —Alvin Toffler |
Ben Finney