understanding subprocess.Popen() and getting return code i always forget how it works…

exitter.py

#! /usr/bin/env python

import argparse

parser = argparse.ArgumentParser( description='w/e' )
parser.add_argument( '-code', type=int, help='exit code' )

args = parser.parse_args()

if args.code:
    exitcode = args.code
else:
    exitcode = 0

print exitcode
exit( exitcode )

invoker.py

#! /usr/bin/env python

import os.path
import subprocess

path_origin = os.path.dirname( os.path.abspath( os.path.realpath( __file__ ) ) )
path_exec = os.path.join( path_origin, 'exitter.py' )

proc = subprocess.Popen(' '.join([path_exec, ('-code=%d' % 0)]), shell=True, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
meta_ps = proc.communicate()
print meta_ps
print proc.returncode