How do I import a Python script from a sibling directory?

Question

Here is the directory structure:

parent_dir/
    foo_dir/
        foo.py
    bar_dir/
        bar.py

How do I import bar.py into foo.py?

Answer 1

If all occurring directories are Python packages, i.e. they all contain __init__.py, then you can use

from ..bar_dir import bar

If the directories aren't Python packages, you can do this by messing around with sys.path, but you shouldn't.

Answer 2

You can use the sys and os modules for generalized imports. In foo.py start with the lines

import sys
import os
sys.path.append(os.path.abspath('../bar_dir'))
import bar