python - Django Initialization

Question

I have a big array, that I would like to load into memory only once when django starts up and then treat it as a read only global variable. What is the best place to put the code for the initialization of that array?

If I put it in settings.py it will be reinitialized every time the settings module is imported, correct?

Answer 1

settings.py is for Django settings; it's fine to put your own settings in there, but using it for arbitrary non-configuration data structures isn't good practice.

Just put it in the module it logically belongs to, and it'll be run just once per instance. If you want to guarantee that the module is loaded on startup and not on first use later on, import that module from your top-level __init__.py to force it to be loaded immediately.