add a shutdown function

[Aaron Swartz]

Lots of web libraries have a shutdown function that:

1. Stops taking new requests.
2. Finishes all the existing requests.
3. Exits.

I guess it'd be nice if web.py had one too. Also, there should be on_shutdown hooks people can set to run.

[Anand Chitipothu (anandology)]

how about adding on_startup as well?

[Aaron Swartz (aaronsw)]

> how about adding on_startup as well?

Good idea.

[Anand Chitipothu (anandology)]

On 8/26/07, Aaron Swartz <email address hidden> wrote:
>
> > how about adding on_startup as well?
>
> Good idea.

Probably not. There is no need for special hook for running something on
startup. That hook can be run directly before calling web.run.
But it can be added anyway for the sake of completeness.

[Eleanor Berger (intellectronica)]

> There is no need for special hook for running something on
> startup. That hook can be run directly before calling web.run

Having both hooks can come handy in some setups. For example: you may want to hang the same function on both hooks, or you may be constructing a library which needs to be able to do some work (migrate the database, establish a lock on the filesystem, establish an app-wide singleton) on startup and you want to provide a clean, plug-n-play interface.

[Eleanor Berger (intellectronica)]

Also, `startuphooks` and `shutdownhooks` may be more appropriate names, since they mirror the morphology of `loadhooks` and `unloadhooks`.