text: # import json module
  import json
  
  # initialize the app config global variable
  appConf = {}
  
  
  def initAppConfig(fName="config.json"):
      # load config json into the global variable
      with open(fName) as f:
          global appConf
          appConf = json.load(f)
          return appConf
  
  
  def getAppConfig():
      # get the cached application config object
      global appConf
      return appConf