An Option to Disable Automatic Loading of Mechanisms on Import

[anilbey]

Overview of the feature

When NEURON is imported via the import neuron statement, it automatically attempts to load mechanism files present in the current working directory. This behaviour does not align with scenarios where NEURON is integrated as a Python API, leading to unnecessary complexity.

Projects such as BlueNaaS, BlueCelluLab, and BluePyOpt encounter difficulties due to this automatic mechanism loading, as the assumption that mechanism files are always located in the current working directory does not hold.

One possible solution

Introduce a flag or configuration option (similar to #590) that allows users to disable the automatic loading of mechanism files upon importing NEURON. This would provide greater flexibility for developers integrating NEURON into Python-based projects and APIs, allowing them to manage mechanism file loading according to their specific requirements.

cc @pramodk @nrnhines