How to get the PATH environment-variable separator in Python?

Question

When multiple directories need to be concatenated, as in an executable search path, there is an os-dependent separator character. For Windows it's ';', for Linux it's ':'. Is there a way in Python to get which character to split on?

In the discussions to this question How do I find out my python path using python? , it is suggested that os.sep will do it. That answer is wrong, since it is the separator for components of a directory or filename and equates to '\\' or '/'.

Answer 1

os.pathsep

Answer 2

It is os.pathsep

Answer 3

OK, so there are:

• os.pathsep that is ; and which is a separator in the PATH environment variable;
• os.path.sep that is / in Unix/Linux and \ in Windows, which is a separator between path components.

The similarity is a source of confusion.

Answer 4

Making it a little more explicit (For python newbies like me)

import os
print(os.pathsep)