So I am confused as what the difference is…Here is some code to display my confusion:
>>> import collections.OrderedDict as od
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
ImportError: No module named OrderedDict
>>> from collections import OrderedDict as od
>>> od
<class 'collections.OrderedDict'>
explanation:
import collections.OrderedDict
did not find the module, yet from collections import OrderedDict
found it?! What is the difference between those two statements?
the class is read as collections.OrderedDict
, so I don't understand why the first attempt was unable to find the module
note:
I am simply using collections as an example. I am not looking for specifically why my example acted the way it did for collections, but rather an explanation for what the different lines of code are actually requesting as far as imports go. If you would like to include an explanation on the error, feel free! Thanks!
Best Answer
OrderedDict
is a class within thecollections
module. When you see things like x.y and something is being imported from it, that means that "y" in this case is actually a module.You should read the docs about how
import
works: here. It's long and involved but at the same time fairly straight forward in how it looks into the different packages and modules to find what should be brought into play. Specifically, the import statement itself and import system.