Book Image

Modular Programming with Python

By : Erik Westra
Book Image

Modular Programming with Python

By: Erik Westra

Overview of this book

Python has evolved over the years and has become the primary choice of developers in various fields. The purpose of this book is to help readers develop readable, reliable, and maintainable programs in Python. Starting with an introduction to the concept of modules and packages, this book shows how you can use these building blocks to organize a complex program into logical parts and make sure those parts are working correctly together. Using clearly written, real-world examples, this book demonstrates how you can use modular techniques to build better programs. A number of common modular programming patterns are covered, including divide-and-conquer, abstraction, encapsulation, wrappers and extensibility. You will also learn how to test your modules and packages, how to prepare your code for sharing with other people, and how to publish your modules and packages on GitHub and the Python Package Index so that other people can use them. Finally, you will learn how to use modular design techniques to be a more effective programmer.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)
Modular Programming with Python
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Chapter 3. Using Modules and Packages

To be able to use modules and packages within your Python programs, you need to understand how they work. In this chapter, we will examine the nuts and bolts of how modules and packages are defined and used in Python. In particular, we will:

  • Review how Python modules and packages are defined

  • See how packages can be created inside other packages

  • Discover how modules and packages can be initialized

  • Learn more about the import process

  • Explore the notion of relative imports

  • Learn how to control what gets imported

  • Find out how to deal with circular dependencies

  • See how a module can be run directly from the command line, and why this can be useful