Why for some modules do we type a '*' for example:
from tkinter import *
and for some of them we don't, like this one:
import time
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3do you mean `from tkinter import *` – 0x263A Jul 03 '22 at 13:40
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Does [this answer](https://stackoverflow.com/q/2386714/19330634) help you ? – l -_- l Jul 03 '22 at 13:44
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2You can use `import tkinter`; there's no obligation to use `from tkinter import *`, and in fact it's better not to. – Charles Duffy Jul 03 '22 at 13:55
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@CharlesDuffy Actually it doesn't work without '*' – Arian Jul 04 '22 at 08:19
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@Arian, that's untrue. You just need to prefix the things you get from it with `tkinter.` when you don't do the wildcard import. – Charles Duffy Jul 04 '22 at 09:25
1 Answers
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When importing a package, objects from the package are in a namespace, e.g.,
import time
time.sleep(1)
But when explicitly importing objects from a package, they are imported into the global namespace, e.g.,
from time import sleep
sleep(1)
When using * instead of a list of object names, all objects from the package are imported into the global namespace and can be used without specifying the package name.
Corylus
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2In [How to Answer](https://stackoverflow.com/help/how-to-answer), note the section _Answer Well-Asked Questions_, and the bullet point therein regarding questions that "have been asked and answered many times before". – Charles Duffy Jul 03 '22 at 13:58
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1I like this answer because it is concise, very easy to understand, and doesn't have all the "why this is bad and you shouldn't do it" arguments attached -- maybe it could be added to the first question linked at the top [what-is-the-reason-for-using-a-wildcard-import](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/55722260/what-is-the-reason-for-using-a-wildcard-import). – topsail Jul 03 '22 at 14:22