Heroku Python deployment with two .py files using only one dyno

Question

What is the easiest way to deploy a python app with only two .py files but keep it in one dyno? My files are friend.py and foe.py and my Procfile looks like this:

worker: python friend.py
worker: python foe.py

But when deployed to Heroku, the only dyno I have is foe.py. I've read other similar questions but they seem to complicated and I don't yet understand the inner workings of a python web application.

Answer 1

If they are distinct processes working in parallel, the most direct path is two dynos, using different names (actually, friend and foe would work fine as process names) in the Procfile . Right now, you are using the name worker twice, so foe.py shows up because it's the last one defined. Two things to keep in mind -

• The names in Procfile can be arbitrary; as far as I know, the only "special" name is web , which tells Heroku to expect that process to bind to a port and accept HTTP traffic from the routing mesh. worker isn't special; it's just a convention people tend to use for "something running other than the web dyno"
• A dyno is closer to a Docker container than a virtual machine, so the general best practice is one kind of process per container.

If you really need only one dyno (cost?), you could write a third script whose sole job is to spawn friend.py and foe.py as subprocesses. In that case, everything comes up and down as a unit; you can't manage friend and foe independently.

Hope that helps.