Python: How to detect debug interpreter

Question

How can I detect in my python script if its being run by the debug interpreter (ie python_d.exe rather than python.exe)? I need to change the paths to some dlls that I pass

Answer 1

Distutils use sys.gettotalrefcount to detect a debug python build:

# ...
if hasattr(sys, 'gettotalrefcount'):
   plat_specifier += '-pydebug'

• this method doesn't rely on an executable name '*_d.exe'. It works for any name.
• this method is cross-platform. It doesn't depend on '_d.pyd' suffix.

See Debugging Builds and Misc/SpecialBuilds.txt