[Python-checkins] cpython: Clarify that one should not use __import__() directly. Also mention

[brett.cannon]

http://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/0e2274a776c7
changeset:   76313:0e2274a776c7
user:        Brett Cannon <brett at python.org>
date:        Sat Apr 14 21:58:33 2012 -0400
summary:
  Clarify that one should not use __import__() directly. Also mention
PEP 328 in explaining how 'index' works.

files:
  Doc/library/functions.rst |  8 +++++---
  1 files changed, 5 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)


diff --git a/Doc/library/functions.rst b/Doc/library/functions.rst
--- a/Doc/library/functions.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/functions.rst
@@ -1447,8 +1447,9 @@
    replaced (by importing the :mod:`builtins` module and assigning to
    ``builtins.__import__``) in order to change semantics of the
    :keyword:`import` statement, but nowadays it is usually simpler to use import
-   hooks (see :pep:`302`).  Direct use of :func:`__import__` is rare, except in
-   cases where you want to import a module whose name is only known at runtime.
+   hooks (see :pep:`302`) to attain the same goals.  Direct use of
+   :func:`__import__` is entirely discouraged in favor of
+   :func:`importlib.import_module`.
 
    The function imports the module *name*, potentially using the given *globals*
    and *locals* to determine how to interpret the name in a package context.
@@ -1460,7 +1461,8 @@
    *level* specifies whether to use absolute or relative imports. ``0`` (the
    default) means only perform absolute imports.  Positive values for
    *level* indicate the number of parent directories to search relative to the
-   directory of the module calling :func:`__import__`.
+   directory of the module calling :func:`__import__` (see :pep:`328` for the
+   details).
 
    When the *name* variable is of the form ``package.module``, normally, the
    top-level package (the name up till the first dot) is returned, *not* the

-- 
Repository URL: http://hg.python.org/cpython