Random pycache folder generation- new to coding

Question

Today I was returning to a project and when I ran it, I noticed that a folder titled "pycache" had been generated. After a bit of research I discovered that this folder is automatically generated by python, and that it stores bytecode in it. Apparently it's fine to ignore and I'm prepared to do that... but my question is this... Why did the folder just start generating now? And why is it not generating in any other workspaces? I don't think I changed any settings?

I am very new to coding, and vscode so a thorough explanation would be greatly appreciated. (As a side note, if I wanted to get rid of the folder either entirely or just from my view, how would I do that? I'm mostly interested in learning the mechanics of vscode/interpreters, so even if it's not a practical thing to do I would appreciate an explanation)

TLDR: Where did this _pycache folder come from?

perhaps, it's a duplicate of https://stackoverflow.com/q/16869024/11805525 — Mohammad Jafari, Oct 08 '21 at 18:10

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 08 '21 at 18:13

0

You can read about python bytecodes in What is __pycache__?

And in order to disable the creation of these bytecodes you can run the python project with -B flag; Or set an env variable PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE=1

answered Oct 08 '21 at 18:13

Mohammad Jafari

1,742
13
17

Okay I've seen people write "run the python project with -B flag" before. What does that mean? How would I do that? – Samuel Rodriguez Oct 09 '21 at 21:18
Notice that you can just set the env variable. But how do you run the project? @SamuelRodriguez – Mohammad Jafari Oct 10 '21 at 10:50

Random pycache folder generation- new to coding

1 Answers1