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Subfolders for package-less module imports
Is there some sane way to allow Python to import from subfolders in projects that don't have a package?
I have many Python programs that I implemented as Python files inside a directory, without a setup.py file or other packaging boilerplate. I don't pip install these. Simply doing cd into the directory, and running files with python some_script.py is much more convenient.
The problem is when the program grows and I need modularize it. Python files can import other files in the same directory, but not in subdirectories. Alas, subdirectories are sometimes very useful.
How do you get Python files to import files from other directories? Is creating a package unavoidable in this case?
1 answer
It looks like I was confused, and the problem I am asking about does not actually exist. Perhaps it existed in an older version, or perhaps I am simply misremembering. Regardless, I've seen other people get stuck on this, so I think posting an answer is more useful than deleting the question.
At least as of Python 3.12, you can import from subfolders without a package. Consider a file tree like this:
main.py
foo.py
bar/baz.py
The following is legal inside main.py:
import foo
from bar import baz
baz.some_function()
Note how __init__.py is not needed, at least based on my tests. I don't remember any special configuration I did to make this work. For example, I did not explicitly add the current directory to the Python path, and in fact, python /full/path/to/main.py also works. If there is some special Python magic that is needed for this to work, that I have unwittingly set up on my system (maybe the Python package did it, or my shell...) then hopefully someone can point out in comments.
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