Namespaces and Scope in Python

Navigating Namespaces and Scope in Python

Johan Vergeer
Johan Vergeer 11 Lessons 27m basics python
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In a program of any complexity, you’ll create hundreds or thousands of names, each pointing to a specific object. How does Python keep track of all these names so that they don’t interfere with one another? This course covers Python namespaces, the structures used to organize the symbolic names assigned to objects in a Python program.

In this course, you’ll learn:

  • How Python organizes symbolic names and objects in namespaces
  • When Python creates a new namespace
  • How namespaces are implemented
  • How variable scope determines symbolic name visibility
  • What is the LEGB rule

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Navigating Namespaces and Scope in Python

11 Lessons 27m

  1. 1. Navigating Namespaces and Scope in Python (Overview)01:07
  2. 2. Built-in Namespace01:33
  3. 3. Global Namespace03:17
  4. 4. Enclosing and Local Namespaces04:18
  5. 5. Variable Scope01:03
  6. 6. The LEGB Rule04:00
  7. 7. Modifying Variables Out of Scope03:08
  8. 8. The global Declaration03:28
  9. 9. The nonlocal Declaration02:17
  10. 10. Scope Best Practices02:32
  11. 11. Navigating Namespaces and Scope in Python (Summary)00:48
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About Johan Vergeer

Hallo, my name is Johan, and I am a software engineer working for the Pythoneers at Ordina in the Netherlands. I have a soft spot for awesome software design, clean code and sharing knowledge.

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Each tutorial at Real Python is created by a team of developers so that it meets our high quality standards. The team members who worked on this tutorial are:

Christopher

Sadie

Tappan

John

Joanna

Aldren

Bryan

Jacob

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Participant Comments

Avatar image for Dirk

Dirk on March 22, 2021

Short and sweet. I liked it a lot.

Avatar image for Alain Rouleau

Alain Rouleau on March 3, 2021

Great explanation of namespaces and the concept of scope, thanks!

I’ve seen many people try to explain these Python concepts over the years. But this is one of the best tutorials that I’ve seen. Kudos! I like how you used simple functions to explain things, introduced the globals() function, and nonlocal for enclosed functions as well. Not many people know about those.

Plus, use of the equal sign in f-strings was a nice touch. Definitely going to use that in the future. Not to mention, the "i" command line option. Pretty sure 99% of people don’t know about that feature either which allows you to start an interactive session and import a module ALL in one step. Very handy.

Keep up the good work!

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