How do I import variable packages in Python like using variable variables ($$) in PHP?

Question

I want to import some package depending on which value the user chooses.

The default is file1.py:

from files import file1

If user chooses file2, it should be :

from files import file2

In PHP, I can do this using variable variables:

$file_name = 'file1';
include($$file_name);

$file_name = 'file2';
include($$file_name);

How can I do this in Python?

Answer 1

Python doesn't have a feature that's directly equivalent to PHP's "variable variables". To get a "variable variable"'s value (or the value of any other expression) you can use the eval function.

foo = "Hello World"
print eval("foo")

However, this can't be used in an import statement.

It is possible to use the __import__ function to import using a variable.

package = "os"
name = "path"

imported = getattr(__import__(package, fromlist=[name]), name)

is equivalent to

from os import path as imported