can't 'import time' in python, get 'AttributeError: struct_time' How to solve?

Question

Running python on Snow Leopard, and I can't import the 'time' module. Works in ipython. Don't have any .pythonrc files being loaded. Scripts that 'import time' using the same interpreter run fine. Have no idea how to troubleshoot this. Anyone have an idea?

[wiggles@bananas ~]$ python2.6
Python 2.6.6 (r266:84292, Sep  1 2010, 14:27:13) 
[GCC 4.2.1 (Apple Inc. build 5646) (dot 1)] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import time
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
  File "time.py", line 4, in <module>
    t = now.strftime("%d-%m-%Y-%H-%M")
AttributeError: struct_time
>>> 
[wiggles@bananas ~]$ ipython-2.6 
Python 2.6.6 (r266:84292, Sep  1 2010, 14:27:13) 
Type "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.

IPython 0.10 -- An enhanced Interactive Python.
?         -> Introduction and overview of IPython's features.
%quickref -> Quick reference.
help      -> Python's own help system.
object?   -> Details about 'object'. ?object also works, ?? prints more.

In [1]: import time

In [2]: 

Answer 1

Look for a file called time.py. It looks like Python is importing that, instead of the one from the standard library:

  File "time.py", line 4, in <module>

The solution is to rename the file something other than "time.py".

By the way, you can find the path to the offending file by opening a Python REPL and typing.

In [1]: import time    
In [2]: time.__file__   

or

In [3]: time     # This shows the path as part of the repr