Automatically initialize Python interpreter when opening ArcGIS Pro

[Bud]

ArcGIS Pro 3.2.1

I keep the Python window closed by default.

If I'm using Pro for the first time since restarting my computer, then when I open the Python window, it takes 30 seconds to initialize.

Instead of waiting for the window to initialize, I'm wondering if Python could be automatically initialized by default when ArcGIS Pro first opens.

[MErikReedAugusta]

Counter-argument: This will likely increase the overall ArcPro startup time by 30 seconds, give or take.

For a project where I'm not going to open that window, that's 30 seconds I don't need to spend.  Why spend it unless you're actually going to use that window?

[Bud]

I guess I was thinking it could happen in the background once Pro has been fully opened/loaded without slowing anything else down. But I don't know if that's possible or not.

[ChrisWozniak]

@MErikReedAugusta, in that case, It wouldn't hurt to allow users to choose if the Python Interpreter initializes on startup (Default: Off). I'd imagine this could be similar to how users can choose to clear their display cache on close.

[MErikReedAugusta]

That seems fair.  I'd be in favor of it being a toggleable option in the settings, like @ChrisWozniak suggested.

For some of us, the Python window will inevitably be opened pretty early in just about every project.

For others of us, it might rarely if ever get opened.

Having the ability to tailor when that 30 seconds of startup happens could be a small concession with a decent-enough payback to users.

[ShaunWalbridge]

Thanks for your idea!

Because Python takes non-trivial time to initialize itself and the modules loaded by ArcGIS Pro (which include NumPy, ArcPy and a number of other modules), it isn't in the interest of non-Python users to have it initialized at the application startup. Because Pro is used in many different ways, where possible we always want to remove dependencies from its startup because that time will have to be paid by all users regardless of use-case. What we do have in our existing issues is evaluating what we can do to reduce the time it takes to import the default set of Python libraries, or allowing delayed loading of some components which today happen all at once immediately on Python being loaded.

If you know you want Python to load, you can have it happen automatically by keeping the Python window open in your Pro window layout, keeping the Geoprocessing pane expanded, or by using a project containing a Jupyter notebook, in those three cases Python will need to load alongside the application startup.

Cheers, Shaun