What does a . in an import statement in Python mean?
Question: I'm looking over the code for Python's `multiprocessing` module, and it
contains this line:

    
    
    from ._multiprocessing import win32, Connection, PipeConnection
    

instead of

    
    
    from _multiprocessing import win32, Connection, PipeConnection
    

the subtle difference being the period before `_multiprocessing`. What does
that mean? Why the period?


Answer: That's the new syntax for explicit [relative
imports](http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0328/). It means import from the
current package.

