check_mtime.py

import time
import json
import pathlib

configurable_mtime = 0
configurable_path = pathlib.Path('/tmp/configurable.json')

configurable = {}

counter = 0

def something():
    global counter
    counter += 1
    print(time.time(), counter)

while True:

    if configurable_path.exists():
        mtime = configurable_path.stat().st_mtime

        if configurable_mtime != mtime:
            configurable_mtime = mtime
            with configurable_path.open() as fd:
                configurable = json.load(fd)

    something()
    
    time.sleep(configurable.get('the_while_loop_delay', 1))