Python 3.6, import local vs 3rd party package with same name

Question

I have done research but I am not able to find a clear solution... How to import 3rd party package if I have a package with the same name?

Example:

Project tree looks like this:

├── Pipfile
├── Pipfile.lock
├── analytics
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── client.py
└── main.py

Content of analytics/client.py is simple:

def identify():
    print("local analytics")

analytics/init.py is one-liner:

from .client import  identify

main.py

import analytics


analytics.identify();

If I run python main.py it will write local analytics to the output. It's ok.

However, If I install 3rd party package with name analytics, e.g.

pipenv install analytics-python (https://segment.com/docs/sources/server/python/)

and run python main.py, it will write local analytics to the output again.

How to run code from 3rd party package?

Answer 1

The point here is that you are running __init__.py as a script. When you run a script, Python adds the directory containing the script to the front of sys.path, and this globally affects all subsequent imports.

So in order to work with third-party module either you have to rename your local analytics directory or remove the __init__.py file so python do not lists it in sys.path.