[Python-Dev] Relative import (original) (raw)

Nick Coghlan ncoghlan at iinet.net.au
Sun Dec 21 08:16:58 EST 2003

Jack Diederich wrote:

I like syntax that reads most important left-to-right, so what about from MODULE import NAMES as RENAME searching HOW or import NAMES as RENAME from MODULE searching HOW

This would work really well for any uses cases I can imagine having. It also has the following benefits:

  1. No magic punctuation
  2. People who don't need it, just never use a 'searching' clause
  3. People encountering it for the first time have a clear flag letting them know something fancy is going on
  4. These people have a word they can look up in the Python docs

I hadn't even thought of point 4 prior to considering Jack's proposal. If I encounter "import .fred.mary" in some python I didn't write, how the heck do I find out what it means?

[...]

ps, I like the second version better but it is less like the current version, which is a drawback.

To head a little further down this sidetrack, the from version of 'import' has puzzled me for a while:

A. from mypkg import foo B. import mypkg.foo as foo

What, if any, are the semantic differences between A & B? Is it only that A2 works, and B2 doesn't?

A2. from mymodule import * B2. import mymodule.*

Cheers, Nick.

-- Nick Coghlan | Brisbane, Australia Email: ncoghlan at email.com | Mobile: +61 409 573 268

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