Is it a bad idea to have an import.py?

Question

I'm working in Flask and have split up the code into different files and note that some times I will import the same thing in two different files

Would it be a bad to have a separate Python file where you put all your imports then in all files that need some common libs just import that file?

I don't know if it might have consequences that I have not noticed.

imports.py

import os, requests, json

some-file.py

from imports import *

Is this a bad idea?

[Duplicate: How do imports work?](https://stackoverflow.com/q/10501724/1324033) — Sayse, Jun 27 '19 at 13:31
To be honest, I wouldn't do that, I would just write it in all the files. But that's just my opinion. I think it makes it more intuitive to explicitly write it in every file. Performance-wise, there is no difference. — Finomnis, Jun 27 '19 at 13:31
**Yes.** Did you ever try to do `import this`? _Explicit is better than implicit._ Also, _simple is better than complex_. Avoid `from m import *` because `m` could shadow some names in the existing namespace. — Konstantin Sekeresh, Jun 27 '19 at 13:36

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 27 '19 at 14:07

This answer (as pointed out by @Sayse) gives a good answer. However, to prevent beginners from missing that information. I'll also answer the question here.

As almost everyone has pointed out, don't do this.

First off as @Konstantin Sekeresh noted: explicit is better than implicit. Adding imports explicitly states what you're importing. In general don't do:

from ... import *

Because this hides what functionality comes from where.

Furthermore, it doesn't improve anything:

the duplicate code is not an issue, it's at the top of the file
it won't make your code faster

I also would not do:

import os, requests, json

Instead I would do:

import os
import requests
import json

Because it is much easier to read (especially when you have more than 3 imports)

Is it a bad idea to have an import.py?

1 Answers1