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Python 3: An interactive deep dive

The import Search Path

Explore how Python manages its import search path via sys.path and discover how to inspect, modify, and prioritize directories for module importing. Understand the role of built-in modules and how adjusting sys.path can resolve version conflicts or customize your Python environment.

We'll cover the following...

Before this goes any further, I want to briefly mention the library search path. Python looks in several places when you try to import a module. Specifically, it looks in all the directories defined in sys.path. This is just a list, and you can easily view it or modify it with standard list methods. (You’ll learn more about lists in Native Datatypes.)

Python 3.5
import sys                                                         #①
print (sys.path)                                                   #②
#['/usercode', 
# '/usr/lib/python3.4', 
# '/usr/lib/python3.4/plat-x86_64-linux-gnu', 
# '/usr/lib/python3.4/lib-dynload', 
# '/usr/local/lib/python3.4/dist-packages', 
# '/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages']
print (sys)                                                        #③
#<module 'sys' (built-in)>
print (sys.path.insert(0, '/home/mark/diveintopython3/examples'))  #④
#None
print (sys.path)                                                   #⑤
#['/home/mark/diveintopython3/examples', 
#'/usercode', 
#'/usr/lib/python3.4', 
#'/usr/lib/python3.4/plat-x86_64-linux-gnu', 
#'/usr/lib/python3.4/lib-dynload', 
#'/usr/local/lib/python3.4/dist-packages', 
#'/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages']

① Importing the ...