How to import Python libraries

This import will work if you are using any version of Python (meaning Python 2 or Python 3).

How to import a library

To import a library, you will have to use import + {the name of your library}. So you could do this to import libraries one by one:

import library1
import library2
import library3
import library4

Or you could use import and split libraries with a comma on the same line.

import library1, library2, library3, library4

import libraries as aliases

Sometimes, to simplify your code and how you will call some Python functions, you can define aliases for your libraries. It works like this: import + {the name of your library} + as + {alias}

Let's take a generic example (and we will see some examples below):

import library1 as lib1

Note: you can definitely use any alias to call a library later in your scripts, but there are some conventions.

How to import famous libraries in Python

Let's see together some examples of "famous" libraries and how to import them.

Import pandas

import pandas as pd

pd is usually the alias for pandas, this is one of the conventions.

First, you will have to verify if the library or package is installed on your environment (or your machine or server).

Note: you might find different terminologies for libraries, it could also be called packages or modules.

Import numpy

import numpy as np

The convention for numpy is to use np as an alias.

Import re

import re

Here, there is no need to use an alias because re is only two letters and that is short enough.

Import json

import json

No alias is needed in this example.