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A Beginner's Python Tutorial - Importing Modules - Wikibooks, Open Books For An Open World

The document discusses how to import modules in Python by explaining what modules are, how to import an entire module, how to import specific objects from a module, and how to assign imported objects to local names. Modules allow code to be organized and reused across programs by grouping related code into files that can then be imported.

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5 views

A Beginner's Python Tutorial - Importing Modules - Wikibooks, Open Books For An Open World

The document discusses how to import modules in Python by explaining what modules are, how to import an entire module, how to import specific objects from a module, and how to assign imported objects to local names. Modules allow code to be organized and reused across programs by grouping related code into files that can then be imported.

Uploaded by

johnvincentp44
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 13

A Beginner's Python

Tutorial/Importing
Modules
< A Beginner's Python Tutorial

Last lesson we covered the killer topic of


Classes. As you can remember, classes
are neat combinations of variables and
functions in a nice, neat package.
Programming lingo calls this feature
encapsulation, but regardless of what it is
called, it's a really cool feature for keeping
things together so the code can be used in
many instances in lots of places. Of
course, you've got to ask, "how do I get my
classes to many places, in many
programs?". The answer is to put them
into a module, to be imported into other
programs.

Module? What's a Module?

A module is a Python file that (generally)


has only definitions of variables, functions,
and classes. For example, a module might
look like this:

Code Example 1 - moduletest.py


### EXAMPLE PYTHON MODULE
# Define some variables:
numberone = 1
ageofqueen = 78

# define some functions


def printhello():
print("hello")

def timesfour(input):
print(input * 4)

# define a class
class Piano:
def __init__(self):
self.type =
input("What type of piano?
")
self.height =
input("What height (in
feet)? ")
self.price =
input("How much did it
cost? ")
self.age =
input("How old is it (in
years)? ")

def printdetails(self):
print(f'This
piano's height is
{self.height} foot')
print(self.type,
"piano, " + self.age,
"years old and costing\
" + self.price + "
dollars.")

As you see, a module looks pretty much


like your normal Python program.

So what do we do with a module? We


import bits of it (or all of it) into other
programs.

To import all the variables, functions and


classes from moduletest.py into another
program you are writing, we use the import
operator. For example, to import
moduletest.py into your main program, you
would have this:

Code Example 2 - mainprogram.py

### mainprogam.py
### IMPORTS ANOTHER MODULE
import moduletest

This assumes that the module is in the


same directory as mainprogram.py ,
or is a default module that comes with
python. You leave out the '.py' at the end of
the file - it is ignored. You normally put all
import statements at the beginning of the
python file, but technically they can be
anywhere. In order to use the items of the
module in your main program, you use the
following:

Code Example 3 - mainprogram.py


continued

### USING AN IMPORTED


MODULE
# Use the form
modulename.itemname
# Examples:
print(moduletest.ageofqueen
)
cfcpiano =
moduletest.Piano()
cfcpiano.printdetails()

As you see, the modules that you import


act very much like the classes we looked
at last lesson - anything inside them must
be preceded with modulename for it to
work.

More About Modules

Wish you could get rid of the modulename


part that you have to put before every item
you use from a module? No? Never? Well,
I'll teach it to you anyway.
One way to avoid this hassle is to import
only the wanted objects from the module.
To do this, you use the from operator. You
use it in the form of from modulename
import itemname. Here is an example:

Code Example 4 - importing individual


objects

### IMPORT ITEMS DIRECTLY


INTO YOUR PROGRAM

# import them
from moduletest import
ageofqueen
from moduletest import
printhello

# now try using them


print(ageofqueen)
printhello()

What is the point of this? Well, maybe you


could use it to make your code a little
more readable. If we get into heaps of
modules inside modules, it could also
remove that extra layer of crypticness.

If you wanted to, you could import


everything from a module in this way by
using from modulename import *. Of
course, this can be troublesome if there
are objects in your program with the same
name as some items in the module. With
large modules, this can easily happen, and
can cause many a headache. A better way
to do this would be to import a module in
the normal way (without the from
operator) and then assign items to a local
name:

Code Example 5 - mainprogram.py


continued

### ASSIGNING ITEMS TO A


LOCAL NAME

# Assigning to a local name


timesfour =
moduletest.timesfour

# Using the local name


print(timesfour(565))

This way, you can remove some


crypticness, AND have all of the items
from a certain module.

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title=A_Beginner%27s_Python_Tutorial/Importing_
Modules&oldid=3842740"
This page was last edited on 6 June 2021, at
14:46. •
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