Fix for UnboundLocalError in application.py

Problem

The application was encountering the following error when starting up:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\cody\PycharmProjects\Podcastrr\main.py", line 47, in <module>
    main()
  File "C:\Users\cody\PycharmProjects\Podcastrr\main.py", line 26, in main
    app = create_app()
          ^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Users\cody\PycharmProjects\Podcastrr\application.py", line 25, in create_app
    SECRET_KEY=os.environ.get('SECRET_KEY', 'dev'),
               ^^
UnboundLocalError: cannot access local variable 'os' where it is not associated with a value

Root Cause

The error was caused by a scope issue with the os module in application.py. The module was imported at the top of the file (global scope), but it was also imported again inside the app_context() block (local scope).

When Python sees a variable being assigned in a function (which includes imports), it treats that variable as local to the function. This means that when the code tried to access os.environ.get() before the local import was executed, Python raised an UnboundLocalError because it saw that os would be defined as a local variable later in the function, but it wasn't yet defined at the point of use.

Solution

The solution was to remove the redundant import of os inside the app_context() block. The os module was already imported at the top of the file, so there was no need to import it again.

Changes Made

In application.py, removed the following line:

import os

from inside the app_context() block (around line 72).

Verification

After making this change, the application should start up without encountering the UnboundLocalError. The os module from the global scope will be used throughout the function, which resolves the error.

Preventing Similar Issues in the Future

To prevent similar issues in the future:

Avoid importing the same module multiple times in different scopes
Be careful with variable names that might shadow global imports
When possible, import all modules at the top of the file

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