Dynamically Import and Instantiate Python Classes

Ran into this bit of genius code in the python mailing list. Here's the code for now and I'll explain it later:

def forname(modname, classname):
    ''' Returns a class of "classname" from module "modname". '''
    module = __import__(modname)
    classobj = getattr(module, classname)
    return classobj

Basically it returns a class object from modname matching classname. Sound deceptively simple, and it is. If it doesn't find classname in modname, or it doesn't find modname, it will simply throw an import error. What's left to do is just instantiate an object of that class and shazam, its magic. Here's an example to create a new Popen instance:

p_class = forname("subprocess", "Popen")
p_inst = p_class(["ls", "-l"])

It's useful for getting input from a file or user and creating classes based on that input. Of course, be certain to properly validate that input, or it can get really nasty really quickly.

Benjamin Snider