Module Reloading

Module Reloading

In Python, once a module is imported, it is cached in memory, and subsequent imports of the same module during the same Python session will use the cached version. This behavior is usually efficient, but it can be problematic during development if you want to reload a module after making changes to it. Fortunately, Python provides ways to reload modules using the `importlib` module or the built-in `reload()` function (for Python 2.x, you need to import `reload` from `imp` module).

### Using `importlib` Module (Python 3.4+):

```python

import importlib

# Import the module for the first time

import mymodule

# ... make changes to mymodule.py ...

# Reload the module

importlib.reload(mymodule)

# Now the changes in mymodule.py are reflected in the reloaded module

```

In this approach, the `importlib.reload()` function reloads the specified module.

### Using `reload()` Function (Python 2.x and Python 3.x):

For Python 2.x, you need to import `reload` from `imp` module:

```python

from imp import reload

# Import the module for the first time

import mymodule

# ... make changes to mymodule.py ...

# Reload the module

reload(mymodule)

# Now the changes in mymodule.py are reflected in the reloaded module

```

In both cases, after reloading the module, any changes made to the module file (`mymodule.py` in this example) will be reflected in the reloaded module. This can be helpful during development when you want to see the effects of code changes without restarting the Python interpreter.