Difference between Module and Package

Remarks#

It is possible to put a Python package in a ZIP file, and use it that way if you add these lines to the beginning of your script:

import sys
sys.path.append("package.zip")

Modules

A module is a single Python file that can be imported. Using a module looks like this:

module.py

def hi():
    print("Hello world!")

my_script.py

import module
module.hi()

in an interpreter

>>> from module import hi
>>> hi()
# Hello world!

Packages

A package is made up of multiple Python files (or modules), and can even include libraries written in C or C++. Instead of being a single file, it is an entire folder structure which might look like this:

Folder package

• __init__.py
• dog.py
• hi.py

__init__.py

from package.dog import woof
from package.hi import hi

dog.py

def woof():
    print("WOOF!!!")

hi.py

def hi():
    print("Hello world!")

All Python packages must contain an __init__.py file. When you import a package in your script (import package), the __init__.py script will be run, giving you access to the all of the functions in the package. In this case, it allows you to use the package.hi and package.woof functions.