[section boost/python/import.hpp]
[section Introduction]
Exposes a mechanism for importing python modules.
[endsect]
[section Function `import`]
``object import(str name);``
[variablelist
[[Effects][Imports the module named by name.]]
[[Returns][An instance of object which holds a reference to the imported module.]]
]
[endsect]
[section Examples]
The following example demonstrates the use of import to access a function in python, and later call it from within C++. 
``
#include <iostream>
#include <string>

using namespace boost::python;

void print_python_version()
{ 
  // Load the sys module.
  object sys = import("sys");

  // Extract the python version.
  std::string version = extract<std::string>(sys.attr("version"));
  std::cout << version << std::endl;
}
``
[endsect]
[endsect]