After some searching and asking around I didn’t find any good explanation of the simplest way to implement plugins in Python. So, for posterity’s sake, here’s my solution. I’m sure there’s a better way: I’d love to hear your suggestions.

First, the requirements. The code cannot have knowledge of how the plugins are named (.so files, .py, package dirs, etc.). I don’t want to hard-code the list of plugins, as this defeats its dynamic nature altogether. I have to be able to iterate across all plugins. Any user should be able to use the module without knowing that it’s got plugins. Finally, it’s got to be as simple as possible.

First up, we have whatever/__init__.py:

import pkgutil
import imp
import os

plugin_path = [os.path.join(__path__[0], "plugins/")]

for loader, name, ispkg in pkgutil.iter_modules(plugin_path):
    file, pathname, desc = imp.find_module(name, plugin_path)
    imp.load_module(name, file, pathname, desc)

This basically uses Python’s module search to find all contents of the plugins sub-directory and load them. Now we have some more scaffolding in the same directory, as whatever/whatever.py:

plugins = []

class plugin(object):
   """Abstract plugin base class."""
   ...

def register_plugin(plugin)
    global plugins
    plugins += [ plugin ]

# utility functions to iterate across and use plugins...

Finally, each plugin looks something like this, in plugins/foo.py:

from whatever/whatever import *

class fooplugin(plugin):
    """Concrete class for foo plugin."""
    ...

register_plugin(fooplugin)

Simple enough, but it took a while to work it out. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem possible to merge whatever.py into __init__.py as we have a recursive import problem.

Best cake ever.

An amusing prank. I love how they get back in, as if that’ll somehow help.

Reading through this bug is seriously depressing to read (until Michael Matz steps in).
It was always complete madness to strip symbols from shipping binaries; it was always
madness to disable the frame pointer too. (The debuginfo trick is an excellent solution
to the problems of source-level debugging, by the way, it’s just taken way, way, too far).

This is why you have to install a 1Gb debuginfo RPM in order to run OProfile on the kernel. Crazy.

It’s a good read if you like to see certain people behaving like asshats to their fellow community
members too.

My favourite quote from I Am Neurotic: “Everyday, at 7:47 am or pm, I always say Boeing, after the Airplane, and I don’t know why. I’ve gotten into a lot of trouble, and I even say it in my sleep.”

It’s already extremely difficult to watch US TV, with adverts every 7 minutes, and massive animated
station idents taking up half the screen, but this is particularly obnoxious:

It’s as if they want you not to watch.

This T-shirt: yes, or no?

I only got most of the videos in this music video:

but it’s still good. The song’s not up to much though.

Is CHRISTIAN electronic music the new underground?

“It used to be that all of the good new music was in the rave scene and then would trickle out into the internet and store shelves. Now when I look for traditional electronic music anywhere, I find that the music seems generally boring or has too much of a political or sinful feel."

I hate that traditional electronic boring, political, or sinful music too.

I’m getting more than a little bit tired of Nintendo playing its bloody games. Yes,
we get it Nintendo, your stuff is popular. Now, please make enough copies of
Mario Kart and Wii Fit to sell them. It’s not even Christmas.

Mario Kart isn’t even in shop charts. I’ve been past several shops selling Wii
stuff recently (Game, supermarkets, etc.) and most of them don’t even have any
*mention* of Mario Kart. This is insane.

Waaa.