from — Expert Examples

Used with import to bring in specific names from a module

EasyIntermediateAdvancedExpert

from bytecode: IMPORT_FROM

How 'from' import compiles differently.

python
import dis

def import_module():
    import json

def from_import():
    from json import dumps

def from_import_as():
    from json import dumps as d

print("import json:")
dis.dis(import_module)
print("\nfrom json import dumps:")
dis.dis(from_import)
print("\nfrom json import dumps as d:")
dis.dis(from_import_as)

# 'import X' -> IMPORT_NAME + STORE_NAME
# 'from X import Y' -> IMPORT_NAME + IMPORT_FROM + STORE_NAME
# IMPORT_FROM is an extra step that extracts the attribute

'from X import Y' compiles to IMPORT_NAME (load module) + IMPORT_FROM (extract attribute) + STORE_NAME. The module itself is not stored — only the imported name is bound.

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