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<div class="section" id="details-on-import-and-polyloader">
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<h1>Details on Import and Polyloader<a class="headerlink" href="#details-on-import-and-polyloader" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
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<div class="section" id="welcome-to-the-python-import-eli5">
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<h2>Welcome to the Python Import ELI5!<a class="headerlink" href="#welcome-to-the-python-import-eli5" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
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<div class="section" id="what-is-import">
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<h3>What is <cite>import</cite>?<a class="headerlink" href="#what-is-import" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
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<p><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">import</span></tt> is a Python statement that finds a <em>module</em> that is accessible
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by the currently running process, loads it, and makes its contents
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available to the scope in which the statement was made. A statement
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like</p>
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<p><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">import</span> <span class="pre">django.db.models</span></tt></p>
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<p>is looking for a module named <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">django.db.models</span></tt>. If the statement is
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successful, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">django.db.models</span></tt> will be a variable name in the scope,
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it will be a Python <em>object</em> (of <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">class</span> <span class="pre">Module</span></tt>, but that’s not
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important), and it will have functions, class constructors, variables
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and constants. These Python objects will be accessible through the dot
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operator.</p>
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<p>An alternative way of writing import statements is</p>
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<p><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">from</span> <span class="pre">django.utils</span> <span class="pre">import</span> <span class="pre">encoding</span></tt></p>
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<p>And then the variable will just be <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">encoding</span></tt>. The <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">encoding</span></tt>
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module has a function for handling unicode-to-web translation.
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Accessing it through the dot operator, it looks like this:</p>
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<p><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">ready_str</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">encoding.smart_str(unready_str)</span></tt></p>
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<p>We call the parts of the import statement that describe the module the
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<em>import string</em>.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="section" id="sys-path-hooks-how-does-python-know-where-to-look">
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<h3><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sys.path_hooks</span></tt>: How does Python know where to look?<a class="headerlink" href="#sys-path-hooks-how-does-python-know-where-to-look" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
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<p>That’s what’s funny. Python has two independent ways of making sense of
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of the import string. The old system is based on the assumption that
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everything is a filesystem, with folders and filenames. This is called
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the <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sys.path_hooks</span></tt> system.</p>
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<p>In the old system, the parts of the import string would be split up, and
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then a collection of directories would be scanned to see if the first
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name in the import string could be matched with a subdirectory. If it
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could, that directory would be scanned until the last name on the import
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string. If that name was a <em>filename</em>, it would be loaded as a module.
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If that name was a <em>directory</em> and that directory had a file named
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<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">__init__.py</span></tt>, then that file would be loaded as the module.</p>
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<p>The <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sys.path_hooks</span></tt> array has a list of different methods for trying to
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scan a filesystem for the parts of the import string. A <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">path_hook</span></tt> is
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a function that takes a path to a directory; if it can handle the
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contents of the directory, it returns a <strong>Finder</strong>, an object whose job
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is to figure out how to load the module; if it can’t, it returns an
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ImportError exception. The object that loads the module is called,
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naturally, a <strong>Loader</strong>.</p>
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<ul class="simple">
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<li>To read more about <strong>Finders</strong>, see <a class="reference internal" href="eli5.html#eli5-finders"><em>Finders</em></a></li>
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<li>To read more about <strong>Loaders</strong>, see <a class="reference internal" href="eli5.html#eli5-loaders"><em>Loaders</em></a></li>
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<li>To read more about <strong>Path Hooks</strong>, see <a class="reference internal" href="eli5.html#eli5-pathhooks"><em>Path Hooks</em></a></li>
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</ul>
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</div>
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<div class="section" id="sys-path-what-directories-are-searched">
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<h3><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></tt>: What directories are searched?<a class="headerlink" href="#sys-path-what-directories-are-searched" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
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<p>The list of directories is stored in an array, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></tt>. This path is
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initialized by Python when it starts up, but programs can modify it at
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run-time to point to extra directories if they want.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="section" id="sys-meta-path-what-is-the-new-system">
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<h3><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sys.meta_path</span></tt>: What is the new system?<a class="headerlink" href="#sys-meta-path-what-is-the-new-system" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
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<p>The new system is called <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sys.meta_path</span></tt>, and it’s an array of
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<strong>Finders</strong>, objects that have one method, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">find_module(fullname)</span></tt>.
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It’s an anything-goes API that gives developers the freedom to import
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modules from anywhere: databases, archives, remote web resources, even
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code written on-the-fly internally. The new system can apply any
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meaning at all to the import string.</p>
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<p>In Python, the import string is offered to each object in
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<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sys.meta_path</span></tt> before being offered to each <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sys.path_hook</span></tt>. The
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filesystem is typically the last finder tried.</p>
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<p>To read more about <strong>Meta Paths</strong>, see <a class="reference internal" href="eli5.html#eli5-metapaths"><em>Meta Paths</em></a></p>
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</div>
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<div class="section" id="is-it-different-between-python-2-and-python-3">
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<h3>Is it different between Python 2 and Python 3?<a class="headerlink" href="#is-it-different-between-python-2-and-python-3" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
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<p>Python 3 moves almost everything about this process into python’s
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library, leaving only a bare minimum of functionality inside the Python
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executable to load this library and run it. When the Python developers
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did that, they added a lot of functionality to make it easier to write
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new import modules. The old way still works, but there are now <em>Module
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Specifications</em>, which are metadata about a module, and the old
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<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">path_hooks</span></tt> system is now just a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">meta_path</span></tt> handler added to the
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new system as the last resort.</p>
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<p>To read more about <strong>Module Specifications</strong>, see <a class="reference internal" href="eli5.html#eli5-specs"><em>Module Specifications</em></a></p>
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</div>
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<div class="section" id="does-the-old-system-still-matter">
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<h3>Does the old system still matter?<a class="headerlink" href="#does-the-old-system-still-matter" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
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<p>Yes, for one reason: <em>iteration</em>. Iteration is the ability to take a
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path where you believe Python modules can be found, and list through
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them. This facility is useful for large frameworks where a user wants
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to add new commands, or new objects, or new operations; Django uses this
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facility a lot! The <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">pkgutil</span></tt> library depends upon Finders being able
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to iterate their contents.</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="sphinxsidebar">
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<div class="sphinxsidebarwrapper">
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<h3><a href="index.html">Table Of Contents</a></h3>
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<ul>
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<li><a class="reference internal" href="#">Details on Import and Polyloader</a><ul>
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<li><a class="reference internal" href="#welcome-to-the-python-import-eli5">Welcome to the Python Import ELI5!</a><ul>
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<li><a class="reference internal" href="#what-is-import">What is <cite>import</cite>?</a></li>
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<li><a class="reference internal" href="#sys-path-hooks-how-does-python-know-where-to-look"><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sys.path_hooks</span></tt>: How does Python know where to look?</a></li>
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<li><a class="reference internal" href="#sys-path-what-directories-are-searched"><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></tt>: What directories are searched?</a></li>
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<li><a class="reference internal" href="#sys-meta-path-what-is-the-new-system"><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sys.meta_path</span></tt>: What is the new system?</a></li>
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<li><a class="reference internal" href="#is-it-different-between-python-2-and-python-3">Is it different between Python 2 and Python 3?</a></li>
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<li><a class="reference internal" href="#does-the-old-system-still-matter">Does the old system still matter?</a></li>
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</ul>
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</li>
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</ul>
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</li>
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</ul>
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<h4>Previous topic</h4>
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<p class="topless"><a href="usage.html"
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title="previous chapter">Usage</a></p>
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<h4>Next topic</h4>
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title="next chapter"><no title></a></p>
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<h3>This Page</h3>
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Enter search terms or a module, class or function name.
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<h3>Navigation</h3>
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© Copyright 2016, Kenneth M. "Elf" Sternberg.
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