Re: Proposal: private keyword for import statements to hide module dependencies

On 11/25/25 3:42 PM, bjotta via Python-list wrote:
> It seem like you are talking about classes and sub-classes. I was talking about dependencies in projects.

The technique is currently defined only for class and sub-classes, but 
could be extended

>
> e..g I create a library that has some dependencies (numpy here)
> Inside the library there is a file importing numpy for example.
>
> '''
> import numpy as np
>
> def stock_earnings(winnings, losses):
>      return winnings - losses
>      
> '''
>
> I want to be able to restrict / name mangle the usage.
> To avoid this being possible.

And the question is how? (and why?) The problem is that to do what you 
want means looking up a name in a namespace now becomes context 
dependent. Some of the names that are defined there are to not be found 
by some contexts, while other can be. This is complicated, which isn't 
what python wants to be.

>
> '''
> from library.math import np.
> '''
>
> There are reasons for this, but for example at work we explicitly install all dependencies we use in our program.
>
> If someone starts to use sub-dependency from a library without explicitly installing it. The next time the library updates and the maintainers decides to update to using numba or something else the code wont work.

And they could have imported np directly and not installed it to, so it 
doesn't help.

And if the library doesn't import that module, your sub-dependency 
import will FAIL and thus show the problem.

>
> That was the Idea behind the "private" keyword. Any other suggestion to that part?

And proper discipline prevents that.

That is EXACTLY the danger of peeking into things marked (by the 
convention) as internal.

Python by its nature doesn't stop you from doing "dumb" things, it just 
makes it clear when you do it (if you know the language).

Letting module globals that begin with __ (and not end with __) be 
mangled like was suggested just make the operation more obvious.

-- 
Richard Damon