How can I import a module dynamically given the full path?

How do I load a Python module given its full path?

Note that the file can be anywhere in the filesystem where the user has access rights.

Solution

Let's have MyClass in module.name module defined at /path/to/file.py. Below is how we import MyClass from this module

For Python 3.5+ use (docs):

import importlib.util
import sys
spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location("module.name", "/path/to/file.py")
foo = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
sys.modules["module.name"] = foo
spec.loader.exec_module(foo)
foo.MyClass()

For Python 3.3 and 3.4 use:

from importlib.machinery import SourceFileLoader

foo = SourceFileLoader("module.name", "/path/to/file.py").load_module()
foo.MyClass()

(Although this has been deprecated in Python 3.4.)

For Python 2 use:

import imp

foo = imp.load_source('module.name', '/path/to/file.py')
foo.MyClass()

There are equivalent convenience functions for compiled Python files and DLLs.