module - How to structure python packages without repeating top level name for import

Question

I'm brand new at python package management, and surely have done something wrong. I was encouraged to create a directory structure as follows:

bagoftricks
├── bagoftricks
│?? ├── bagoftricks
│?? │?? ├── __init__.py
│?? │?? └── bagoftricks.py
│?? └── __init__.py
├── README.md
└── setup.py

bagoftricks.py contains two functions, levenshtein() and geofind().

I would like to call these as:

import bagoftricks

x = bagoftricks.levenshtein(arg1,arg2) 

Instead, I find I have to do this:

import bagoftricks

x = bagoftricks.bagoftricks.levenshtein(arg1,arg2) 

Is there a better way to organize my packages in the first place, without the naming redundancy?

UPDATE

So, I followed Avichal Badaya's instructions below, and removed one level of nesting. That is, I now have...

bagoftricks
├── bagoftricks
│?? ├── __init__.py
│?? └── bagoftricks.py
├── README.md
└── setup.py

However, to call this package, I still have...

from bagoftricks.bagoftricks import geofind()

or

import bagoftricks

then

>>> bagoftricks.bagoftricks.geofind()

Rather than the desired....

from bagoftricks import geofind()

or

import bagoftricks

>>> bagoftricks.geofind()

I cannot remove that extra layer of nesting. When I try, by analogy, to remove one more level of nesting, so that my module is flat, as:

bagoftricks
├── __init__.py
├── bagoftricks.py
├── README.md
└── setup.py

I cannot build the package at all...

$ python setup.py build
running build
running build_py
error: package directory 'bagoftricks' does not exist

What's the secret for natural imports like standard packages use, without redundant top-level name imports?

Answer 1

The first level "bagoftricks" is fine. That's just the name of your "project" so to speak. In the you have a setup.py, and other files that tell the packaging systems what they need to know.

You can then have the code directly in this module, or in a src directory. You can even go as far as just having this structure:

bagoftricks
├── bagoftricks.py
├── README.md
└── setup.py

But I would not recommend that, mostly because you might want to reorganize things later, and it's easier if you already have a "proper" package. Also most people, tools and docs assume you have a package, so it's easier.

So the minimum would be:

bagoftricks
├── bagoftricks
│   └── __init__.py
├── README.md
└── setup.py

With __init__.py containing the functions you want to import. You then use these functions like this:

from bagoftricks import levenshtein, anotherfunction

Once that __init__.py becomes too big, you want to split it up in several modules, giving you something like this:

bagoftricks
├── bagoftricks
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── anothermodule.py
│   └── levenshtein.py
├── README.md
└── setup.py

Your __init__.py should then import the functions from the various modules:

from bagoftricks.levenshtein import levenshtein
from bagoftricks.anothermodule import anotherfunction

And then you can still use them like like you did before.