__init__.py

from here

What is __init__.py used for?

The primary use of __init__.py is to initialize Python packages. The easiest way to demonstrate this is to take a look at the structure of a standard Python module.

package/
    __init__.py
    file.py
    file2.py
    file3.py
    subpackage/
        __init__.py
        submodule1.py
        submodule2.py

As you can see in the structure above the inclusion of the __init__.py file in a directory indicates to the Python interpreter that the directory should be treated like a Python package

 

What goes in __init__.py?

__init__.py can be an empty file but it is often used to perform setup needed for the package(import things, load things into path, etc).

One common thing to do in your __init__.py is to import selected Classes, functions, etc into the package level so they can be convieniently imported from the package.

In our example above we can say that file.py has the Class File. So without anything in our__init__.py you would import with this syntax:

from package.file import File

However you can import File into your __init__.py to make it available at the package level:

# in your __init__.py
from file import File

# now import File from package
from package import File

Another thing to do is at the package level make subpackages/modules available with the__all__ variable. When the interpeter sees an __all__ variable defined in an __init__.py it imports the modules listed in the __all__ variable when you do:

from package import *

__all__ is a list containing the names of modules that you want to be imported with import * so looking at our above example again if we wanted to import the submodules in subpackage the __all__ variable in subpackage/__init__.py would be:

__all__ = ['submodule1', 'submodule2']

With the __all__ variable populated like that, when you perform

from subpackage import *

it would import submodule1 and submodule2.

As you can see __init__.pycan be very useful besides its primary function of indicating that a directory is a module.

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