Import Module With Name Same As Built-in Module In Python 3

I meet a similar problem which can be simplified as following: For example I have a file structure as following: ----folder ---- main.py ---- math.py I define a function i

Solution 1:

It's pretty bad practice to name your modules after built-in modules. I'd recommend naming your math.py something else.

That being said, you could import it using the path with imp:

import imp
math = imp.load_source('math', './math.py')

Solution 2:

Dove into a bit of a rabbit hole but here we go. As a disclaimer, like Jack said naming modules after builtins is very bad practice, and this can more easily be accomplished using imp as he suggested.

The reason you're having problems come from the interaction of a few things. When you type

import math

What your python does is look at sys.path. It will check in all the locations in sys.path for a module named math, and import the first one it finds. In your case, it finds your local math module first. After the import is completed, it adds it to sys.modules, but we'll get back to that.

Since you want to use both, first you can import your local math as you have. I would suggest importing it as a different name to keep it separate.

from . import math as local_math

After that, we need to mess with our sys.path to find the builtin math

sys.path = sys.path[::-1]

This reverses the order of sys.path, meaning it will look in your local directory first instead of last.

Now you might think this was enough, but if you try to import math here, python will see it in sys.modules and not bother trying to import again, so first

del sys.modules['math']

Then we can import the default math module

import math

and finally clean up our sys.path

sys.path = sys.path[::-1]

now we have access to everything we need

>>>math.cos(10)
-0.8390715290764524
>>>local_math.f(10)
1000