Why I can call 'print' from 'eval'

Question

For code:

#!/usr/bin/python

src = """
print '!!!'
import os
"""

obj = compile(src, '', 'exec')
eval(obj, {'__builtins__': False})

I get output:

!!!
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "./test.py", line 9, in <module>
    eval(obj, {'__builtins__': False})
  File "", line 3, in <module>

ImportError: __import__ not found

Both 'print' and 'import' are language construct. Why does 'eval' restrict using of 'import' but doesn't restrict 'print'?

P.S. I'm using python 2.6

UPDATE: Question is not "Why does import not work?" but "Why does print work?" Are there some architecture restrictions or something else?

Answer 1

The __import__ method is invoked by the import keyword: python.org

If you want to be able to import a module you need to leave the __import__ method in the builtins:

src = """
print '!!!'
import os
"""

obj = compile(src, '', 'exec')
eval(obj, {'__builtins__': {'__import__':__builtins__.__import__}})

Answer 2

In your eval the call to import is made successfully however import makes use of the __import__ method in builtins which you have made unavailable in your exec. This is the reason why you are seeing

ImportError: __import__ not found

print doesn't depend on any builtins so works OK.

You could pass just __import__ from builtins with something like:

eval(obj, {'__builtins__' : {'__import__' :__builtins__.__import__}})