Python can also import only some names from a module:

    from module import name, name, name

and can also run a module import under control of a try/except block, so you can trap the ImportError and do something about it. A typical use is to try to import the C version (for performance) of a module, and if that fails, fall back to the pure Python version of the same module; e.g. cElementTree and ElementTree:

    try:
        import cElementTree
    except ImportError:
        import ElementTree

Sorry, mistake in the last snippet above, it should really be:

    try:
        import cElementTree as ElementTree
    except ImportError:
        import ElementTree

because otherwise, you have to know which import succeeded, because that changes the name by which you reference the module and the items in it.