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Importing modules
The concept of importing modules may lead to some confusion, especially if you expect a
behaviour similar to other programming languages.
To see clearer I did some simple tests.
mymodule.py is the module to be imported and contains this:
print "HAHA"
def sayhi():
print "Hi"
class Hello:
def __init__(self):
print "HELLO"
The main program for the test that imports mymodule is located in the same directory.
I tried different importing mechanisms:
1. Import only the name of mymodule to the namespace:
To access functions or objects, their name must be preceeded by the name of the imported module
import mymodule
h = mymodule.Hello()
mymodule.sayhi()
2. Import the whole namespace of mymodule:
(with the disadvantage of eventual name confusion, if the same name exists in both)
from importtest import *
h=Hello()
sayhi()
3. Import only selected functions / objects
from mymodule import sayhi, Hello
h=Hello()
sayhi()
The three methods had the expected result:
2
HAHA
HELLO
Hi
So:
1. All code residing in the imported module is executed, even if only selected functions or
objects are imported explicitely.
2. The 3 different methods of importing give the same result, as expected.
3. If the imported module is found in the same folder as the main program, there is no problem.
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Modules and global variables
1. Using a variable defined in a module that is imported
Module mymodule is the module to be imported and contains only two statements:
x = 1
print „hello“
The first sets a variable, the second tells us that the module has well been imported.
Now we try to import the module and use the variable x
First try for the test program:
import mymodule
print x
This does not work!
The ‚hello‘ ist printed, that means the module is imported. But we get an error when we try to print
the variable x.
I must confess that, at first, this was an unexpected behavior.
As every statement of an imported module is executed, my conclusion was that importing a module
would be roughly the same as writing all the code into one bigger file.
And there I was wrong!
Why?
Variables are only global within the module in which they are defined! So they can't be accessed
from outside, even if the module is imported.
Second try:
from mymodule import x
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print x
Now we have explicitely imported the name x from the namespace of mymodule.
So it is known to the main program. And so this works correctly!
Third try:
from mymodule import *
print x
This works also as we import the whole namespace to the main program.
Conclusion:
If we want to use variables defined in an imported module, we must import the whole
namespace (from mymodule import *) or seletively import the needed variables (from
mymodule import x).
2. Using a variable defined in the main program in an imported module
First try:
The main program contains:
y=1
import mymodule
and mymodule:
print 'hello'
print y
This does not work, as main program and mymodule have different namespaces.
Even a statement global y in one or both files does not help.
The solution:
Use get and set functions and a globaql variable in the imported module:
mymodule:
global y
y=-1 # default value
def set_y(yvalue):
global y
y=yvalue
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def get_y():
return y
def print_y():
print y
Now we can work with the variable y in the main program:
from mymodule import *
print_y() # print default value
set_y(5) # set new value to 5
print_y() # and print it
set_y(7) # set new value
x= get_y() # get it from main module level
print x
Note:
In mymodule, it is important to use the global statement in the set_y function, because here the
value is changed. When the value is only read, as in print_y or get_y, the global statement is not
needed.
Conclusion:
• At module level (for a module that shall be imported), it is good to put the whole code
into functions that can be called from the outside.
• Default values can be defined at the beginning of the code.
• Variables declared with 'global' are global at module level, but not outside of it!
A still more pythonic way would be to use only objects in the imported module.
