Question

I always wondered why the syntax for importing specific objects from a module is from module import x, y, z instead of import x, y, z from module. I’m not a native speaker, but isn’t the latter more correct/natural?

So, what is the reason to put the from first? Is it merely to simplify the grammar (require less lookahead)? Is it an attempt to make the two kinds of imports visually more distinct? Or is it one of these cases where the obvious way is “not obvious at first unless you’re Dutch”? 😉

Answer 1

No idea why it was actually done that way but it’s the way I’d do it, simply because, being an engineering type, it seems more natural to me to start from a general category and drill down to specifics.

It would also mean the parser would have to store less stuff if processing sequentially. With:

import x, y, z from a

you have to remember x, y and z. With:

from a import x, y, z

you only have to remember a.

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That’s why I had so much trouble when I first encountered Perl’s post-if variant:

$x = $y if $y > 40;

since you don’t know in advance whether what you’re reading is conditional or not.