[Python-ideas] Prevent importing yourself?

[Ned Batchelder]

Hi,

A common question we get in the #python IRC channel is, "I tried 
importing a module, but I get an AttributeError trying to use the things 
it said it provided."  Turns out the beginner named their own file the 
same as the module they were trying to use.

That is, they want to try (for example) the "azure" package.  So they 
make a file called azure.py, and start with "import azure". The import 
succeeds, but it has none of the contents the documentation claims, 
because they have imported themselves.  It's baffling, because they have 
used the exact statements shown in the examples, but it doesn't work.

Could we make this a more obvious failure?  Is there ever a valid reason 
for a file to import itself?  Is this situation detectable in the import 
machinery?

--Ned.