Importing from sibling directories (python 3)

Question

I can't figure out how to import modules from sibling directories in Python 3 using absolute imports.

1. modify the sys.path .
2. turn the directory into a pip installable package via __init__.py and setup.py .

For option 1. I figured out how to import modules from sibling directories by modifying the sys.path , but this method seems a little hackey to me. Also, I've read that it is not preferred. Why? Is there something inherently wrong or dangerous about modifying the sys.path ?

For option 2. What exactly do I need to do make my package pip installable? I've alreay created my __init__.py file, but it seems that I need to create and configure a setup.py script to prepare my package for distribution? I'm still in the development mode, so is this really the best/pythonic method? If it is, then do I just type python setup.py install into my terminal after creating the setup.py ?

Edit: I'm now trying to figure this out using absolute imports as python 3 does support relative imports.

Answer 1

From what I've read, Python 3 does not support relative imports

It does.

To import myproject/foo/__init__.py from myproject/bar/baz.py , you can use this:

from .. import foo

Or if you want to import an object/module in foo :

from ..foo import object

This requires myproject to be a package, so myproject/__init__.py has to exist.