Does placing python imports inside functions incur any performance overhead?

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Yes, placing Python imports inside functions can incur a performance overhead. This is because every time the function is called, the import statement will be executed again which can add some overhead in terms of time and memory usage.

However, the impact of this overhead is usually negligible unless the import statement itself is complex or takes a long time to execute. In general, it's a good practice to place import statements at the top of your file to make the code more readable and to avoid unnecessary imports.

That being said, there are situations where it might make sense to place imports inside functions. For example, if you have a very large dependency that is only needed in one specific function, it might be better to import it only when it's needed, rather than importing it at the top of the file and potentially slowing down the entire application.