Briefly explain how package names are imported.

In Python, packages are imported using the import statement. Here's a step-by-step explanation:

1. First, you need to have the package installed in your Python environment. You can install packages using pip, a package installer for Python. For example, if you want to install the package named 'numpy', you would use the command pip install numpy in your command line.

2. Once the package is installed, you can import it into your Python script using the import statement followed by the name of the package. For example, to import numpy, you would write import numpy at the top of your script.

3. After importing, you can use the functions and classes defined in the package. You need to prefix them with the name of the package. For example, to use the array function from numpy, you would write numpy.array().

4. If you want to avoid prefixing the functions with the package name, you can import the package using the from keyword along with import. For example, from numpy import array would let you use the array function without prefixing it with numpy..

5. You can also rename the package when you import it to make it easier to type. This is done using the as keyword. For example, import numpy as np would let you use numpy functions with the prefix np. instead of numpy.. This is a common convention with certain packages. For example, numpy is often imported as np and pandas as pd.

Remember, the package needs to be installed in your Python environment before you can import it. If it's not installed, you'll get a ModuleNotFoundError when you try to import it.