When we look at module design considerations in Chapter 19, Module and Package Design, we'll see how a module conforms to the Singleton design pattern. This means that we can import a module only once, and the single instance is shared.

Because of this, it's often necessary to define a configuration in a distinct module and import it. This allows separate modules to share a common configuration. Each module will import the shared configuration module; the configuration module will locate the configuration file(s) and create the actual configuration objects.