GH-109653: Defer import of importlib.metadata._adapters (python/cpython#109829)

---------

Co-authored-by: Jason R. Coombs <[email protected]>

Author: AA-Turner

importlib_metadata/__init__.py

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 import posixpath
 import collections
 
-from . import _adapters, _meta
+from . import _meta
 from .compat import py39
 from ._collections import FreezableDefaultDict, Pair
 from ._compat import (
@@ -461,6 +461,9 @@ def metadata(self) -> _meta.PackageMetadata:
         Custom providers may provide the METADATA file or override this
         property.
         """
+        # deferred for performance (python/cpython#109829)
+        from . import _adapters
+
         opt_text = (
             self.read_text('METADATA')
             or self.read_text('PKG-INFO')

newsfragments/+.feature.rst

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Deferred select imports in for speedup (python/cpython#109829).