Recursive version of 'reload'

Wouldn't it be simpler to actually write some test cases and run them every time you are done with modifying your module?

What you are doing is cool (you are in essence using TDD (test driven development) but you are doing it wrong.

Consider that with written unit tests(using the default python unittest module, or better yet nose) you get to have tests that are reusable, stable and help you detect inconsitencies in your code much much faster and better than with testing your module in the interactive environment.

I've run up against the same issue, and you inspired me to actually solve the problem.

from types import ModuleType

try:
    from importlib import reload  # Python 3.4+
except ImportError:
    # Needed for Python 3.0-3.3; harmless in Python 2.7 where imp.reload is just an
    # alias for the builtin reload.
    from imp import reload

def rreload(module):
    """Recursively reload modules."""
    reload(module)
    for attribute_name in dir(module):
        attribute = getattr(module, attribute_name)
        if type(attribute) is ModuleType:
            rreload(attribute)

Or, if you are using IPython, just use dreload or pass --deep-reload on startup.

I've run against the same issue and I've built up on @Mattew and @osa answer.

from types import ModuleType
import os, sys
def rreload(module, paths=None, mdict=None):
    """Recursively reload modules."""
    if paths is None:
        paths = ['']
    if mdict is None:
        mdict = {}
    if module not in mdict:
        # modules reloaded from this module
        mdict[module] = [] 
    reload(module)
    for attribute_name in dir(module):
        attribute = getattr(module, attribute_name)
        if type(attribute) is ModuleType:
            if attribute not in mdict[module]:
                if attribute.__name__ not in sys.builtin_module_names:
                    if os.path.dirname(attribute.__file__) in paths:
                        mdict[module].append(attribute)
                        rreload(attribute, paths, mdict)
    reload(module)
    #return mdict

There are three differences:

1. In the general case, reload(module) has to be called at the end of the function as well, as @osa pointed out.
2. With circular import dependencies the code posted earlier would loop forever so I've added a dictionary of lists to keep track of the set of modules loaded by other modules. While circular dependencies are not cool, Python allows them, so this reload function deals with them as well.
3. I've added a list of paths (default is ['']) from which the reloading is allowed. Some modules don't like been reloaded the normal way, (as shown here).