Usually, modules would be grouped in packages that can be installed in your local development environment, after which you can import functions from those packages and use them within your code. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, you can also create your own python modules (you can create your own packages, but we\u2019ll stick to the basics of modules for now).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clean, reusable code. It\u2019s what every developer aspires to. <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nTo this end, we have reusable functions that are written to: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- accept parameters, <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
| also called arguments (<\/em>*args<\/em><\/strong>) and\/or keyword arguments (<\/em>**kwargs<\/em><\/strong>) |<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n- handle the data within those parameters, <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- and return said data. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
What if we wanted to take it a step further? If we wanted to, not only write clean reusable code but also organize and store our code in clearer, structured modules? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This also comes into play when using design patterns, writing and organizing data classes, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is where modules come in – Not only can we have code that can be used and reused within a project, we can create modules that can be used in any project. In this post, we\u2019re going to talk specifically about Python Modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- What are python modules?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- How can we use them?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- How do we install them?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- How can we import them?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
In the world of web development, certain terminology can be confusing. <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nIf you\u2019ve recently begun learning python you might ask \u201cwhat is the difference between an app, and a module?\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An \u2018app\u2019 can be just one \u2018module\u2019 within a larger app. However, while you can have multiple python modules within one app, you cannot have apps within a module. This could be confusing, especially if early on in your coding journey, you\u2019ve begun learning Python and working with, say Django<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n- We create our main project, in this case, it\u2019s a site for a local photographer so we\u2019ll call it photography_philosophy<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- we create the main app<\/strong> and let\u2019s say we create an app <\/strong>specifically to handle the logic for the initial landing page (home) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- and an app <\/strong>to handle the logic for site Users (users)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Our project folder structure looks like this, <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
-\/photography_philosophy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014\/photography_philosophy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014\/home<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014\/users<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nWe add the apps <\/strong>to the INSTALLED_APPS config var (environment variable) in settings.py<\/strong> but we have a typo. The app folder<\/strong> is called \u2018users\u2019<\/strong>, but we\u2019ve put \u2018user\u2019 <\/strong>into our settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/6BlqDdKk1mFLhNts_i5uhNabme_DyH-JaQ0JgiwElrW3fpaMwi5cNOz9haYyf_5_RNspHdQ04pHobN4F52kdWDi0w2Vu_GuebhirRtaOOg1pPQUk7O0Hr9FoVwtd_tKfzMX2ty_n3CTkUWFE7g\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWe get a | Module<\/strong>NotFoundError | when trying to run the project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/4bMnJTOxB95gclJYXk4o9zY2rzM9TG604XHW_XGVpwESzr89wfpUNMwNZN4AExz0ZLc5Oqk69fZ45h4n3Mkmfzy8enyXEVXduNJmKCpk1L9CD6hyrr0mWEhyTXMYyN9wmtM0p2DXiu9KN601QQ\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u201cBut it\u2019s an <\/em>app<\/em><\/strong>, not a <\/em>module<\/em><\/strong>? The command to start it is literally, start<\/em>app<\/em><\/strong>?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nThis is an example of how the terms \u2018app\u2019 <\/strong>and \u2018module\u2019 <\/strong>can sometimes be used interchangeably and might cause confusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCreating a basic python module <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nAt its most basic, this is as simple as creating a file, giving it the \u2018.py\u2019 extension, and adding a few lines of code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- I\u2019ll create a file: app.py<\/strong> and in this file, I\u2019ll write a small function that takes in a single parameter (argument, or *args) and prints the value of that parameter to the terminal. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Then I\u2019ll call the function and pass in a familiar string, the foundation on which all coding tutorials are built, the ever-present \u2018Hello World!\u2019.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/yO_bZL4F_HwWQj1lp_PfxkcBgJRyWJ-6oWdXCL5eka-ANz4ycHkgKsK_0bidOSt8jX-Ap2CrwRvUz5XvGVnEgIb9mmQIPsNmI04oMUBbO0RsIipGG6CFxXI7vvc9HlnDVy_cVv_IMxiz-AhsTQ\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThere we have it. We\u2019ve written our first python module! We\u2019ll go further into this later in the article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to Install Modules in Python<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019ll need the Python package manager (pip)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nPython has a package manager called pip <\/strong>which is used to install packages, either system-wide or within a specific environment. Hold on<\/strong>, \u201cI thought we were installing modules<\/strong>?\u201d you may be thinking. <\/p>\n\n\n\nWell, in essence, we are, but here\u2019s where understanding certain terminology comes into play. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is a package <\/strong>vs what is a module<\/strong>? <\/h3>\n\n\n\nThink of a package <\/strong>as a group of related files (modules<\/strong>) and associated functions\/classes<\/strong> that are within those modules <\/strong>that work together to form a complete package<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nIf you\u2019ve worked with NodeJS or React, you may have used one of the following, npx or npm (node package manager). We can start to see how, across coding languages, across frameworks, certain patterns start to emerge, as regards coding concepts and even some naming conventions (packages\/apps\/modules \u2026etc). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back to python however and the syntax for installing a Python module using pip <\/strong>is as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\npip install module-name<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nIf you\u2019re working with Gitpod the syntax is almost identical, you just need to specify the version<\/p>\n\n\n\n
pip3 install module-name<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nFor this to work, you must have pip installed, and the installation process differs according to your system. The following would be to install pip system-wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Installing pip on Windows<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nEnsure that you have at least Python 3.4 or newer installed. Python versions beyond 3.4 ship with pip by default, so it should already be installed. The following examples and commands should be run from the terminal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re running these commands outside your <\/em>IDE<\/em><\/strong> | Integrated Development Environment | run from a Git Bash or PowerShell terminal on Windows, or a Bash terminal on macOS and Linux).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can check which version of python you have installed by running this command:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
python --version<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nHowever, if pip is not available, just run this command:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
py -3 -m ensurepip<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nInstalling pip on macOS<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nFirst, open a Bash terminal and download the get-pip.py installation file with curl:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
curl https:\/\/bootstrap.pypa.io\/get-pip.py -o get-pip.py<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nAnd then run the script to install pip:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
python get-pip.py<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nInstalling pip on Linux<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nFirst, open a Bash terminal and download the package using this command:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
curl -O https:\/\/bootstrap.pypa.io\/get-pip.py<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd install it with the following command:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
sudo python get-pip.py<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nIf you\u2019re using one of either Debian or Ubuntu you might be able to use the systems package manager with one of the following commands: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
sudo apt install python-pip<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nsudo apt install python3-pip<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nHave you noticed something? The file we\u2019re downloading and then running is a python module, get-pip.py – <\/strong>but more than that, it\u2019s a module that then installs the entire pip <\/strong>package and any associated modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFrom here most of the time it\u2019s simply a case of referring to the documentation for the latest stable release of whichever package you are looking to install.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to Import Modules in Python<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Importing code from one module to another<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhile the syntax may vary, depending on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- the project setup<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- exactly what you are importing, etc<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
the underlying concept remains the same. Think of it as asking someone to fetch something specific from a specific location. In a real-life situation a person might ask someone, \u201chey would you please bring me the car keys, they are on my desk, thanks\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In pythonic form were one to ask Python to hand them their car keys:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
from desk import car_keys<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nLet\u2019s assume the desk is located in a separate room<\/strong>, the home office,<\/strong> for example, we could use dot notation to specify the desk within the home office<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\nfrom home_office.desk import car_keys<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nAlternatively, we could import the entire desk from home_office, and then access the car_keys:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
from home_office import desk \nmy_car_keys = desk.car_keys<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nOnce a module has been imported, we can consider it to be a class, whose variables (keys, objects, functions) can be accessed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s look at how this could be applied in a coding situation. <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nFor this, I\u2019m going to use an example of importing directly from Python, and also some examples using a combination of built-in packages\/modules from Django, as well as local user-created modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Importing built-in modules directly from Python.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nPython comes with its own built-in modules, methods, and functions<\/a>. To dive further into this, check out the Python Standard Library<\/a>. For this example, we\u2019ll use Python\u2019s built-in datetime. This assumes you have Python installed on your system.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTo import directly from python is as simple as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
import datetime<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nFor how to use the specific python module we use google, or whichever is your preferred search engine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once you\u2019ve imported the module we can use it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
import datetime\n\ttoday = datetime.datetime.now()\nprint(today)<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nIf you\u2019re wondering why I\u2019ve used datetime.datetime, that\u2019s because the overall package is called datetime, and the main class of the package is also called datetime, the specific function I\u2019m finally accessing is now() which will give me the current time. To delve into the datetime module further click here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nImporting in Django.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nIn this example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- I\u2019m using dot notation to import a specific module, render<\/strong>, from a Django module<\/strong> called shortcuts<\/strong> <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- I\u2019m then returning this module from my index() function, and passing in the request and a template as arguments (*args)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The render method (function) is a built-in Django module that expects one required argument, request, and can take in multiple arguments (*args) and specific keyword arguments (**kwargs)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- You can take a look at the source code here<\/a>. As per the Django documentation<\/a> it: Combines a given template with a given context dictionary and returns an HttpResponse<\/strong><\/a> object with that rendered text.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/AMa57sCdoW-KKFMF6ibSWBrO4TmF1VIUU8uUKgwRTOkNE8J4A9r8KnDQKhDcWz4DPQ89bbq_3dZ6BIgddph0fvKIZCPnnm_dMUo21R83cFRXbNB16UCwintsX74mLruhDDFMqwCkWrZeOHvRMQ\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe render module can also take in a context object – This is extremely useful because we can pass any data we want to a template via this context object using | \u2018key\u2019: value<\/strong> | pairs. Here\u2019s how it looks in the code:<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/Qik4r4_dzR1BQZHXP-ETK4zblX_lwF5kAmac2r96OmegRoHET4bGMqoDKI7f2eRKO2eeMxD4bPTzhhtOBPGXybfnsnZmvGBPQeFNJoOshi6Hpkj1D1dllnqAqOTkllwjCjEbcpTz_6ZrFYggIQ\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIn the above example, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- I\u2019m defining a variable on line 7<\/strong>, welcome_text<\/strong>, assigning it a string value.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- On line 10 I define a context object<\/strong>, called context<\/strong>, and within that object, I declare a \u2018key\u2019: this key I\u2019ve called \u2018welcome_text\u2019 and I assign it that same variable welcome_text I defined on line 7.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Essentially I\u2019m telling Django. This key \u2018welcome_text\u2019 in this context object, has the value of the variable welcome_text on line 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- I\u2019m also now storing the route to the template in a variable called template on line 9<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Both context and template are keyword arguments (**kwargs) that the render() method expects<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
And now the magic. On the actual template file, index.html, I can access that context object and any \u2018key\u2019 within to display the value stored at that \u2018key\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember the key was \u2018welcome_text\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![](\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/pr5kO6b9MiGDDbCtoVU7dxzy_qBTTt8QUaqifLsVY3xLeTpp_Fe6aQHRa5IqKEs0Fsc2fX0rdv9NonSIJM94uFSZ4-EJb2JvFC2D8TnKEifvxlng7mlSlAh1aKnzw1yc0MjBVEnsPyA4K5whUg\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
| also called arguments (<\/em>*args<\/em><\/strong>) and\/or keyword arguments (<\/em>**kwargs<\/em><\/strong>) |<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n What if we wanted to take it a step further? If we wanted to, not only write clean reusable code but also organize and store our code in clearer, structured modules? <\/p>\n\n\n\n This also comes into play when using design patterns, writing and organizing data classes, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is where modules come in – Not only can we have code that can be used and reused within a project, we can create modules that can be used in any project. In this post, we\u2019re going to talk specifically about Python Modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019ve recently begun learning python you might ask \u201cwhat is the difference between an app, and a module?\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An \u2018app\u2019 can be just one \u2018module\u2019 within a larger app. However, while you can have multiple python modules within one app, you cannot have apps within a module. This could be confusing, especially if early on in your coding journey, you\u2019ve begun learning Python and working with, say Django<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n -\/photography_philosophy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014\/photography_philosophy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014\/home<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014\/users<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We add the apps <\/strong>to the INSTALLED_APPS config var (environment variable) in settings.py<\/strong> but we have a typo. The app folder<\/strong> is called \u2018users\u2019<\/strong>, but we\u2019ve put \u2018user\u2019 <\/strong>into our settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We get a | Module<\/strong>NotFoundError | when trying to run the project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut it\u2019s an <\/em>app<\/em><\/strong>, not a <\/em>module<\/em><\/strong>? The command to start it is literally, start<\/em>app<\/em><\/strong>?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is an example of how the terms \u2018app\u2019 <\/strong>and \u2018module\u2019 <\/strong>can sometimes be used interchangeably and might cause confusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At its most basic, this is as simple as creating a file, giving it the \u2018.py\u2019 extension, and adding a few lines of code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There we have it. We\u2019ve written our first python module! We\u2019ll go further into this later in the article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019ll need the Python package manager (pip)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Python has a package manager called pip <\/strong>which is used to install packages, either system-wide or within a specific environment. Hold on<\/strong>, \u201cI thought we were installing modules<\/strong>?\u201d you may be thinking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, in essence, we are, but here\u2019s where understanding certain terminology comes into play. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Think of a package <\/strong>as a group of related files (modules<\/strong>) and associated functions\/classes<\/strong> that are within those modules <\/strong>that work together to form a complete package<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019ve worked with NodeJS or React, you may have used one of the following, npx or npm (node package manager). We can start to see how, across coding languages, across frameworks, certain patterns start to emerge, as regards coding concepts and even some naming conventions (packages\/apps\/modules \u2026etc). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Back to python however and the syntax for installing a Python module using pip <\/strong>is as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re working with Gitpod the syntax is almost identical, you just need to specify the version<\/p>\n\n\n\n For this to work, you must have pip installed, and the installation process differs according to your system. The following would be to install pip system-wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ensure that you have at least Python 3.4 or newer installed. Python versions beyond 3.4 ship with pip by default, so it should already be installed. The following examples and commands should be run from the terminal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re running these commands outside your <\/em>IDE<\/em><\/strong> | Integrated Development Environment | run from a Git Bash or PowerShell terminal on Windows, or a Bash terminal on macOS and Linux).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n You can check which version of python you have installed by running this command:<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, if pip is not available, just run this command:<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, open a Bash terminal and download the get-pip.py installation file with curl:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then run the script to install pip:<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, open a Bash terminal and download the package using this command:<\/p>\n\n\n\n curl -O https:\/\/bootstrap.pypa.io\/get-pip.py<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n And install it with the following command:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re using one of either Debian or Ubuntu you might be able to use the systems package manager with one of the following commands: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you noticed something? The file we\u2019re downloading and then running is a python module, get-pip.py – <\/strong>but more than that, it\u2019s a module that then installs the entire pip <\/strong>package and any associated modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From here most of the time it\u2019s simply a case of referring to the documentation for the latest stable release of whichever package you are looking to install.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Importing code from one module to another<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n While the syntax may vary, depending on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n the underlying concept remains the same. Think of it as asking someone to fetch something specific from a specific location. In a real-life situation a person might ask someone, \u201chey would you please bring me the car keys, they are on my desk, thanks\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In pythonic form were one to ask Python to hand them their car keys:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s assume the desk is located in a separate room<\/strong>, the home office,<\/strong> for example, we could use dot notation to specify the desk within the home office<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alternatively, we could import the entire desk from home_office, and then access the car_keys:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once a module has been imported, we can consider it to be a class, whose variables (keys, objects, functions) can be accessed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For this, I\u2019m going to use an example of importing directly from Python, and also some examples using a combination of built-in packages\/modules from Django, as well as local user-created modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Python comes with its own built-in modules, methods, and functions<\/a>. To dive further into this, check out the Python Standard Library<\/a>. For this example, we\u2019ll use Python\u2019s built-in datetime. This assumes you have Python installed on your system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To import directly from python is as simple as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n For how to use the specific python module we use google, or whichever is your preferred search engine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019ve imported the module we can use it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re wondering why I\u2019ve used datetime.datetime, that\u2019s because the overall package is called datetime, and the main class of the package is also called datetime, the specific function I\u2019m finally accessing is now() which will give me the current time. To delve into the datetime module further click here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The render module can also take in a context object – This is extremely useful because we can pass any data we want to a template via this context object using | \u2018key\u2019: value<\/strong> | pairs. Here\u2019s how it looks in the code:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the above example, <\/p>\n\n\n\n Essentially I\u2019m telling Django. This key \u2018welcome_text\u2019 in this context object, has the value of the variable welcome_text on line 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And now the magic. On the actual template file, index.html, I can access that context object and any \u2018key\u2019 within to display the value stored at that \u2018key\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember the key was \u2018welcome_text\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\n
In the world of web development, certain terminology can be confusing. <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
Creating a basic python module <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
How to Install Modules in Python<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
What is a package <\/strong>vs what is a module<\/strong>? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
pip install module-name<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\npip3 install module-name<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nInstalling pip on Windows<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
python --version<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\npy -3 -m ensurepip<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nInstalling pip on macOS<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
curl https:\/\/bootstrap.pypa.io\/get-pip.py -o get-pip.py<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\npython get-pip.py<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nInstalling pip on Linux<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
sudo python get-pip.py<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nsudo apt install python-pip<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nsudo apt install python3-pip<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nHow to Import Modules in Python<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
\n
from desk import car_keys<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nfrom home_office.desk import car_keys<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nfrom home_office import desk \nmy_car_keys = desk.car_keys<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nLet\u2019s look at how this could be applied in a coding situation. <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Importing built-in modules directly from Python.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
import datetime<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nimport datetime\n\ttoday = datetime.datetime.now()\nprint(today)<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nImporting in Django.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/M-6JeMzqfA5lrlt8kkYwzclne_dNnp_WEf2F2HzL-WsqT7PaWsjy55xWoryb4Mf8QAj2W90BBpnM2his3Gqi5KaBJ3Wp7fJs_u3dBKho86K4k-H9bFfltfYQ_zjJ63QOmcQybeJOnZEgeuFEmQ\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/KC8gUvqiOl4a9KbYUkLDRkIlvLnTzFZ4n3Vk81iZNdK1P3pAcmk0N7OjNuOwNHhX-fCxl0Zqoveb16XepF5aVaumqX0ullWKz25Ewa302kF1Y6a_88JsRMNiDp0nIEo_cmZwuqQ3F5MDZKCSJQ\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/oVMgq8VU0kI_Qb-GO3nImzPmY6wYPds-OmcHSsxMnuCIZsHFtkVZCyvf2yeyOZPomcjM4WpucXqc5_moC_76tPrOgs6TiCrexFL7nmncihiZzhYbuA-cue6BvIaiFkbO_CXtTsHr8bi-1AufUA\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/gv0XllwdQdKrFDx8Mk38eWJ3Eufxb3f_WswMLojQkDnEO5ju5pg7S60KSsHsPlGaYo0p27giJwYaL1coxTZ7xNu1iEU2hTbSXh2CSaqWbwVnXdtY6pDwq0o1BrhKEe6rhfUIbHBhNjlj8G6xUw\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/kugfR3L0Fc4-LBrWE1Q8AoOM2NYAVYGMCmNcBoeMBB_Advp8JZJHXWE5x0xHz0kN24lAN3Q1TVa7naxrhGJs5xewqj9Mc5d99qsV9lFopB_Di7DLYxsvc658hBCF5BYzU-fh1D_H3WKUXrUC7A\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/wXT8sdMcuMbkAgjtxM4kwKKVfJcpkkp0zNEMoiYnJwzet3FbiKevvoiP3NujVeQSOv9ma6aLmccwdEu3Cs12gCRONGojgwKlerWLVvUfxOWcB1WyEtz7c-UkmSBpiplilqXW7XAtho3HnyWPKw\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/AmEiiEAxfEGln1H9VJURg4riZBllt78kZz_C_tiEH5a_iNw4sy7Ai7iQ1cBOqhIU1j0xZej0uekfrQScHAsN3D8PEJp1UcY4vVKp8SxKL4kO8Q7pFGeSrXmtU_5bkvrQnlroPMgjBJKToOSidg\")
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