importlib.abc.Loader.load_module()

load_module(fullname)

A legacy method for loading a module. If the module cannot be loaded, ImportError is raised, otherwise the loaded module is returned.

If the requested module already exists in sys.modules, that module should be used and reloaded. Otherwise the loader should create a new module and insert it into sys.modules before any loading begins, to prevent recursion from the import. If the loader inserted a module and the load fails, it must be removed by the loader from sys.modules; modules already in sys.modules before the loader began execution should be left alone (see importlib.util.module_for_loader()).

The loader should set several attributes on the module. (Note that some of these attributes can change when a module is reloaded):

• __name__

  The name of the module.

• __file__

  The path to where the module data is stored (not set for built-in modules).

• __cached__

  The path to where a compiled version of the module is/should be stored (not set when the attribute would be inappropriate).

• __path__

  A list of strings specifying the search path within a package. This attribute is not set on modules.

• __package__

  The parent package for the module/package. If the module is top-level then it has a value of the empty string. The importlib.util.module_for_loader() decorator can handle the details for __package__.

• __loader__

  The loader used to load the module. The importlib.util.module_for_loader() decorator can handle the details for __package__.

When exec_module() is available then backwards-compatible functionality is provided.