31.2. importlib – Convenience wrappers for __import__()

This module is a minor subset of what is available in the more full-featured package of the same name from Python 3.1 that provides a complete implementation of import. What is here has been provided to help ease in transitioning from 2.7 to 3.1.

importlib.import_module(name, package=None)

Import a module. The name argument specifies what module to import in absolute or relative terms (e.g. either pkg.mod or ..mod). If the name is specified in relative terms, then the package argument must be specified to the package which is to act as the anchor for resolving the package name (e.g. import_module('..mod', 'pkg.subpkg') will import pkg.mod). The specified module will be inserted into sys.modules and returned.