is there anyway to restrict a method in module from import in python?

Question

I have a python directory like below.. in test.py i have a,b,c methods.

While import test i dont want user to import c method. One way is making as c method as private. Is there anyway to achieve that in __init__.py or using __import__

    test
     __init__.py
     test.py

I have see few solution in stackoverflow am not getting a way to achieve that.

Thanks.

Answer 1

If you're looking for absolute private methods, then python is the wrong language for you - go to Java or C/++/# or some other language that supports the distinction between public and private. In python, if it is known something exists, then it is generally possible to access that thing no matter how hidden it is.

If you're simply trying to limit the convenient options of the user when they import your module, then you can simply selectively include or exclude methods in __init__.py. Say that you have

test.py

def a():
    pass
def b():
    pass
def c():
    pass

and you wanted a and b to be accessible to the user but c not to be, then you could do

__init__.py

from .test import a, b

and export the folder as a module. Now, when a user does

import test

they get access to only the stuff that's in the namespace by the end of __init__.py (that is, they can get test.a and test.b, but test.c doesn't exist). Since you never included c in __init__.py, it doesn't appear there.

Note that c would still be accessible by doing

from test.test import c

which accesses the sourcefile directly.

---

Alternatively, you can designate on a per-file basis which names should be immediately accessible by using a built-in variable __all__. The following will have the same effect as the above code:

test.py

...
__all__ = ['a', 'b']  # note that 'c' is excluded

__init__.py

from test.py import *  # imports a and b, but not c