[Python-Dev] __import__ problems

[Hrvoje Niksic]

Mart Somermaa wrote:
> The variant proposed by Hrvoje Niksic:
> 
>  >>> __import__(modname)
>  >>> mod = sys.modules[modname]
> 
> looks more appealing, but comes with the drawback that sys has to be 
> imported for that purpose only.

That is not a real drawback, as "sys" will certainly be present in the 
system, so the "importing" boils down to a dict lookup and a variable 
assignment.

Having said that, I'd add that I found the behavior of __import__ 
counter-intuitive, but assumed there's a good reason for it.  If I 
hadn't known about sys.modules beforehand, I would have probably gone 
the chained-getattr route as well.