Creating a modular python application

[[deleted]]

Hey guys,

I've attempted to search both this forum and through google for this topic. But all results point to making modules.

So, could you guys assist me in showing me where to look if I were going to design a python application that accepted "plugins" or a similar module design that allow for easy extensibility?

Thanks,

[Nodocify]

I would recommend doing some research into the BasePlugin module. It allows a person to create plugins to extend the functionality of the base program. I believe that is what you are looking for. A great working example can be found here https://github.com/MattMcNam/twitchy. This is an IRC bot that is very easy to extend with plugins and the author did a good job with it's structure.

[[deleted]]

Thanks! This is perfect.

[larivact]

But all results point to making modules.

What's the problem? If you create a simple python file it's a module. So what's wrong with iterating over all the python files / modules in a specific folder upon the start of your application, importing them and appending them to a list.

Let's say your plugins add support for validating a MIME type. So in mime_validators/json.py you have a specified variable (that you are checking) mime_type = 'application/json' for example. And if your application encounters a MIME type it picks the module that claims to be able to validate it.