blob: 4d3b2f593c0f6d467a6ccbe6e67514ede79e7364 [file] [log] [blame]
Georg Brandl68ee3a52008-03-25 07:21:32 +00001.. XXX document all delegations to __special__ methods
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00002.. _built-in-funcs:
3
4Built-in Functions
5==================
6
Georg Brandl42514812008-05-05 21:05:32 +00007The Python interpreter has a number of functions and types built into it that
8are always available. They are listed here in alphabetical order.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00009
Barry Warsaw36c1d1f2017-10-05 12:11:18 -040010=================== ================= ================== ================== ====================
11.. .. Built-in Functions .. ..
12=================== ================= ================== ================== ====================
13:func:`abs` :func:`delattr` :func:`hash` |func-memoryview|_ |func-set|_
14:func:`all` |func-dict|_ :func:`help` :func:`min` :func:`setattr`
15:func:`any` :func:`dir` :func:`hex` :func:`next` :func:`slice`
16:func:`ascii` :func:`divmod` :func:`id` :func:`object` :func:`sorted`
17:func:`bin` :func:`enumerate` :func:`input` :func:`oct` :func:`staticmethod`
18:func:`bool` :func:`eval` :func:`int` :func:`open` |func-str|_
19:func:`breakpoint` :func:`exec` :func:`isinstance` :func:`ord` :func:`sum`
20|func-bytearray|_ :func:`filter` :func:`issubclass` :func:`pow` :func:`super`
21|func-bytes|_ :func:`float` :func:`iter` :func:`print` |func-tuple|_
22:func:`callable` :func:`format` :func:`len` :func:`property` :func:`type`
23:func:`chr` |func-frozenset|_ |func-list|_ |func-range|_ :func:`vars`
24:func:`classmethod` :func:`getattr` :func:`locals` :func:`repr` :func:`zip`
25:func:`compile` :func:`globals` :func:`map` :func:`reversed` :func:`__import__`
Ezio Melotti17f9b3d2010-11-24 22:02:18 +000026:func:`complex` :func:`hasattr` :func:`max` :func:`round`
Barry Warsaw36c1d1f2017-10-05 12:11:18 -040027=================== ================= ================== ================== ====================
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +000028
Éric Araujo9edd9f02011-09-01 23:08:55 +020029.. using :func:`dict` would create a link to another page, so local targets are
30 used, with replacement texts to make the output in the table consistent
31
32.. |func-dict| replace:: ``dict()``
33.. |func-frozenset| replace:: ``frozenset()``
34.. |func-memoryview| replace:: ``memoryview()``
35.. |func-set| replace:: ``set()``
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +100036.. |func-list| replace:: ``list()``
Chris Jerdonekbb4e9412012-11-28 01:38:40 -080037.. |func-str| replace:: ``str()``
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +100038.. |func-tuple| replace:: ``tuple()``
39.. |func-range| replace:: ``range()``
csabellac6db4812017-04-26 01:47:01 -040040.. |func-bytearray| replace:: ``bytearray()``
41.. |func-bytes| replace:: ``bytes()``
Éric Araujo9edd9f02011-09-01 23:08:55 +020042
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +000043.. function:: abs(x)
44
Georg Brandlba956ae2007-11-29 17:24:34 +000045 Return the absolute value of a number. The argument may be an
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +000046 integer or a floating point number. If the argument is a complex number, its
Windson yang3ae2e332018-07-06 07:09:53 +080047 magnitude is returned. If *x* defines :meth:`__abs__`,
48 ``abs(x)`` returns ``x.__abs__()``.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +000049
50
51.. function:: all(iterable)
52
Serhiy Storchakafbc1c262013-11-29 12:17:13 +020053 Return ``True`` if all elements of the *iterable* are true (or if the iterable
Georg Brandl0192bff2009-04-27 16:49:41 +000054 is empty). Equivalent to::
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +000055
56 def all(iterable):
57 for element in iterable:
58 if not element:
59 return False
60 return True
61
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +000062
63.. function:: any(iterable)
64
Serhiy Storchakafbc1c262013-11-29 12:17:13 +020065 Return ``True`` if any element of the *iterable* is true. If the iterable
66 is empty, return ``False``. Equivalent to::
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +000067
68 def any(iterable):
69 for element in iterable:
70 if element:
71 return True
72 return False
73
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +000074
Georg Brandl559e5d72008-06-11 18:37:52 +000075.. function:: ascii(object)
76
77 As :func:`repr`, return a string containing a printable representation of an
78 object, but escape the non-ASCII characters in the string returned by
79 :func:`repr` using ``\x``, ``\u`` or ``\U`` escapes. This generates a string
80 similar to that returned by :func:`repr` in Python 2.
81
82
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +000083.. function:: bin(x)
84
Manvisha Kodali67ba4fa2017-07-06 22:30:58 +030085 Convert an integer number to a binary string prefixed with "0b". The result
86 is a valid Python expression. If *x* is not a Python :class:`int` object, it
87 has to define an :meth:`__index__` method that returns an integer. Some
88 examples:
89
90 >>> bin(3)
91 '0b11'
92 >>> bin(-10)
93 '-0b1010'
94
95 If prefix "0b" is desired or not, you can use either of the following ways.
96
97 >>> format(14, '#b'), format(14, 'b')
98 ('0b1110', '1110')
99 >>> f'{14:#b}', f'{14:b}'
100 ('0b1110', '1110')
101
Andrés Delfinobda9c3e2018-06-29 06:57:10 -0300102 See also :func:`format` for more information.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000103
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000104
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200105.. class:: bool([x])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000106
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200107 Return a Boolean value, i.e. one of ``True`` or ``False``. *x* is converted
108 using the standard :ref:`truth testing procedure <truth>`. If *x* is false
109 or omitted, this returns ``False``; otherwise it returns ``True``. The
110 :class:`bool` class is a subclass of :class:`int` (see :ref:`typesnumeric`).
111 It cannot be subclassed further. Its only instances are ``False`` and
Éric Araujo18ddf822011-09-01 23:10:36 +0200112 ``True`` (see :ref:`bltin-boolean-values`).
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000113
114 .. index:: pair: Boolean; type
115
Louis Sautier3fe89da2018-08-27 12:45:26 +0200116 .. versionchanged:: 3.7
117 *x* is now a positional-only parameter.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000118
Barry Warsaw36c1d1f2017-10-05 12:11:18 -0400119.. function:: breakpoint(*args, **kws)
120
121 This function drops you into the debugger at the call site. Specifically,
122 it calls :func:`sys.breakpointhook`, passing ``args`` and ``kws`` straight
123 through. By default, ``sys.breakpointhook()`` calls
124 :func:`pdb.set_trace()` expecting no arguments. In this case, it is
125 purely a convenience function so you don't have to explicitly import
126 :mod:`pdb` or type as much code to enter the debugger. However,
127 :func:`sys.breakpointhook` can be set to some other function and
128 :func:`breakpoint` will automatically call that, allowing you to drop into
129 the debugger of choice.
130
Steve Dower44f91c32019-06-27 10:47:59 -0700131 .. audit-event:: builtins.breakpoint breakpointhook breakpoint
Steve Dower60419a72019-06-24 08:42:54 -0700132
Barry Warsaw36c1d1f2017-10-05 12:11:18 -0400133 .. versionadded:: 3.7
134
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +1000135.. _func-bytearray:
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200136.. class:: bytearray([source[, encoding[, errors]]])
csabellac6db4812017-04-26 01:47:01 -0400137 :noindex:
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +0000138
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200139 Return a new array of bytes. The :class:`bytearray` class is a mutable
Georg Brandl95414632007-11-22 11:00:28 +0000140 sequence of integers in the range 0 <= x < 256. It has most of the usual
141 methods of mutable sequences, described in :ref:`typesseq-mutable`, as well
Antoine Pitroub85b3af2010-11-20 19:36:05 +0000142 as most methods that the :class:`bytes` type has, see :ref:`bytes-methods`.
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +0000143
Georg Brandl036490d2009-05-17 13:00:36 +0000144 The optional *source* parameter can be used to initialize the array in a few
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +0000145 different ways:
146
147 * If it is a *string*, you must also give the *encoding* (and optionally,
Georg Brandlf6945182008-02-01 11:56:49 +0000148 *errors*) parameters; :func:`bytearray` then converts the string to
Guido van Rossum98297ee2007-11-06 21:34:58 +0000149 bytes using :meth:`str.encode`.
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +0000150
151 * If it is an *integer*, the array will have that size and will be
152 initialized with null bytes.
153
154 * If it is an object conforming to the *buffer* interface, a read-only buffer
155 of the object will be used to initialize the bytes array.
156
Guido van Rossum98297ee2007-11-06 21:34:58 +0000157 * If it is an *iterable*, it must be an iterable of integers in the range
158 ``0 <= x < 256``, which are used as the initial contents of the array.
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +0000159
160 Without an argument, an array of size 0 is created.
161
Chris Jerdonek006d9072012-10-12 20:28:26 -0700162 See also :ref:`binaryseq` and :ref:`typebytearray`.
163
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +0000164
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +1000165.. _func-bytes:
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200166.. class:: bytes([source[, encoding[, errors]]])
csabellac6db4812017-04-26 01:47:01 -0400167 :noindex:
Guido van Rossum98297ee2007-11-06 21:34:58 +0000168
169 Return a new "bytes" object, which is an immutable sequence of integers in
170 the range ``0 <= x < 256``. :class:`bytes` is an immutable version of
Georg Brandl95414632007-11-22 11:00:28 +0000171 :class:`bytearray` -- it has the same non-mutating methods and the same
172 indexing and slicing behavior.
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +0000173
Georg Brandl476b3552009-04-29 06:37:12 +0000174 Accordingly, constructor arguments are interpreted as for :func:`bytearray`.
Guido van Rossum98297ee2007-11-06 21:34:58 +0000175
176 Bytes objects can also be created with literals, see :ref:`strings`.
177
Chris Jerdonek006d9072012-10-12 20:28:26 -0700178 See also :ref:`binaryseq`, :ref:`typebytes`, and :ref:`bytes-methods`.
179
Guido van Rossum98297ee2007-11-06 21:34:58 +0000180
Antoine Pitroue71362d2010-11-27 22:00:11 +0000181.. function:: callable(object)
182
183 Return :const:`True` if the *object* argument appears callable,
184 :const:`False` if not. If this returns true, it is still possible that a
185 call fails, but if it is false, calling *object* will never succeed.
186 Note that classes are callable (calling a class returns a new instance);
187 instances are callable if their class has a :meth:`__call__` method.
188
189 .. versionadded:: 3.2
190 This function was first removed in Python 3.0 and then brought back
191 in Python 3.2.
192
193
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000194.. function:: chr(i)
195
Georg Brandl3be472b2015-01-14 08:26:30 +0100196 Return the string representing a character whose Unicode code point is the
Nick Coghlaneed67192014-08-17 14:07:53 +1000197 integer *i*. For example, ``chr(97)`` returns the string ``'a'``, while
Terry Jan Reedy01a9a952016-03-23 13:36:52 -0400198 ``chr(8364)`` returns the string ``'€'``. This is the inverse of :func:`ord`.
Nick Coghlaneed67192014-08-17 14:07:53 +1000199
200 The valid range for the argument is from 0 through 1,114,111 (0x10FFFF in
201 base 16). :exc:`ValueError` will be raised if *i* is outside that range.
Alexander Belopolsky5d4dd3e2010-11-18 18:50:13 +0000202
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000203
Daisuke Miyakawa0e61e672017-10-12 23:39:43 +0900204.. decorator:: classmethod
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000205
Daisuke Miyakawa0e61e672017-10-12 23:39:43 +0900206 Transform a method into a class method.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000207
208 A class method receives the class as implicit first argument, just like an
209 instance method receives the instance. To declare a class method, use this
210 idiom::
211
212 class C:
213 @classmethod
214 def f(cls, arg1, arg2, ...): ...
215
Andre Delfino548cb602019-03-25 19:53:43 -0300216 The ``@classmethod`` form is a function :term:`decorator` -- see
217 :ref:`function` for details.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000218
Andre Delfino548cb602019-03-25 19:53:43 -0300219 A class method can be called either on the class (such as ``C.f()``) or on an instance (such
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000220 as ``C().f()``). The instance is ignored except for its class. If a class
221 method is called for a derived class, the derived class object is passed as the
222 implied first argument.
223
224 Class methods are different than C++ or Java static methods. If you want those,
Berker Peksag805f8f92019-08-25 01:37:25 +0300225 see :func:`staticmethod` in this section.
Andre Delfino548cb602019-03-25 19:53:43 -0300226 For more information on class methods, see :ref:`types`.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000227
Berker Peksag805f8f92019-08-25 01:37:25 +0300228 .. versionchanged:: 3.9
229 Class methods can now wrap other :term:`descriptors <descriptor>` such as
230 :func:`property`.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000231
Georg Brandl8334fd92010-12-04 10:26:46 +0000232.. function:: compile(source, filename, mode, flags=0, dont_inherit=False, optimize=-1)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000233
Benjamin Petersonec9199b2008-11-08 17:05:00 +0000234 Compile the *source* into a code or AST object. Code objects can be executed
Benjamin Peterson933142a2013-12-06 20:12:39 -0500235 by :func:`exec` or :func:`eval`. *source* can either be a normal string, a
236 byte string, or an AST object. Refer to the :mod:`ast` module documentation
237 for information on how to work with AST objects.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000238
Benjamin Petersonec9199b2008-11-08 17:05:00 +0000239 The *filename* argument should give the file from which the code was read;
240 pass some recognizable value if it wasn't read from a file (``'<string>'`` is
241 commonly used).
242
243 The *mode* argument specifies what kind of code must be compiled; it can be
244 ``'exec'`` if *source* consists of a sequence of statements, ``'eval'`` if it
245 consists of a single expression, or ``'single'`` if it consists of a single
246 interactive statement (in the latter case, expression statements that
R. David Murray66011262009-06-25 17:37:57 +0000247 evaluate to something other than ``None`` will be printed).
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000248
Andrés Delfino33aefad2018-07-11 06:44:06 -0300249 The optional arguments *flags* and *dont_inherit* control which :ref:`future
250 statements <future>` affect the compilation of *source*. If neither
Georg Brandle06de8b2008-05-05 21:42:51 +0000251 is present (or both are zero) the code is compiled with those future
Georg Brandle4196d32014-10-31 09:41:46 +0100252 statements that are in effect in the code that is calling :func:`compile`. If the
Georg Brandle06de8b2008-05-05 21:42:51 +0000253 *flags* argument is given and *dont_inherit* is not (or is zero) then the
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000254 future statements specified by the *flags* argument are used in addition to
255 those that would be used anyway. If *dont_inherit* is a non-zero integer then
Georg Brandle06de8b2008-05-05 21:42:51 +0000256 the *flags* argument is it -- the future statements in effect around the call
257 to compile are ignored.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000258
Christian Heimesfaf2f632008-01-06 16:59:19 +0000259 Future statements are specified by bits which can be bitwise ORed together to
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000260 specify multiple statements. The bitfield required to specify a given feature
Serhiy Storchaka0d196ed2013-10-09 14:02:31 +0300261 can be found as the :attr:`~__future__._Feature.compiler_flag` attribute on
262 the :class:`~__future__._Feature` instance in the :mod:`__future__` module.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000263
Matthias Bussonnier565b4f12019-05-21 13:12:03 -0700264 The optional argument *flags* also controls whether the compiled source is
265 allowed to contain top-level ``await``, ``async for`` and ``async with``.
266 When the bit ``ast.PyCF_ALLOW_TOP_LEVEL_AWAIT`` is set, the return code
267 object has ``CO_COROUTINE`` set in ``co_code``, and can be interactively
268 executed via ``await eval(code_object)``.
269
Georg Brandl8334fd92010-12-04 10:26:46 +0000270 The argument *optimize* specifies the optimization level of the compiler; the
271 default value of ``-1`` selects the optimization level of the interpreter as
272 given by :option:`-O` options. Explicit levels are ``0`` (no optimization;
273 ``__debug__`` is true), ``1`` (asserts are removed, ``__debug__`` is false)
274 or ``2`` (docstrings are removed too).
275
Christian Heimes7f044312008-01-06 17:05:40 +0000276 This function raises :exc:`SyntaxError` if the compiled source is invalid,
Berker Peksag0334c3c2016-02-21 22:00:12 +0200277 and :exc:`ValueError` if the source contains null bytes.
Christian Heimes7f044312008-01-06 17:05:40 +0000278
Georg Brandle4196d32014-10-31 09:41:46 +0100279 If you want to parse Python code into its AST representation, see
280 :func:`ast.parse`.
281
Steve Dower44f91c32019-06-27 10:47:59 -0700282 .. audit-event:: compile source,filename compile
Steve Dowerb82e17e2019-05-23 08:45:22 -0700283
Steve Dower60419a72019-06-24 08:42:54 -0700284 Raises an :ref:`auditing event <auditing>` ``compile`` with arguments
Steve Dowerb82e17e2019-05-23 08:45:22 -0700285 ``source`` and ``filename``. This event may also be raised by implicit
286 compilation.
287
Benjamin Petersonec9199b2008-11-08 17:05:00 +0000288 .. note::
289
Benjamin Peterson20211002009-11-25 18:34:42 +0000290 When compiling a string with multi-line code in ``'single'`` or
Benjamin Petersonaeaa5922009-11-13 00:17:59 +0000291 ``'eval'`` mode, input must be terminated by at least one newline
292 character. This is to facilitate detection of incomplete and complete
293 statements in the :mod:`code` module.
294
Brett Cannonf7a6ff62018-03-09 13:13:32 -0800295 .. warning::
296
297 It is possible to crash the Python interpreter with a
298 sufficiently large/complex string when compiling to an AST
299 object due to stack depth limitations in Python's AST compiler.
300
Benjamin Petersonaeaa5922009-11-13 00:17:59 +0000301 .. versionchanged:: 3.2
302 Allowed use of Windows and Mac newlines. Also input in ``'exec'`` mode
Georg Brandl8334fd92010-12-04 10:26:46 +0000303 does not have to end in a newline anymore. Added the *optimize* parameter.
Benjamin Petersonec9199b2008-11-08 17:05:00 +0000304
Berker Peksag0334c3c2016-02-21 22:00:12 +0200305 .. versionchanged:: 3.5
306 Previously, :exc:`TypeError` was raised when null bytes were encountered
307 in *source*.
308
Matthias Bussonnier565b4f12019-05-21 13:12:03 -0700309 .. versionadded:: 3.8
310 ``ast.PyCF_ALLOW_TOP_LEVEL_AWAIT`` can now be passed in flags to enable
311 support for top-level ``await``, ``async for``, and ``async with``.
312
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000313
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200314.. class:: complex([real[, imag]])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000315
Terry Jan Reedy43cba212015-05-23 16:16:28 -0400316 Return a complex number with the value *real* + *imag*\*1j or convert a string
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200317 or number to a complex number. If the first parameter is a string, it will
318 be interpreted as a complex number and the function must be called without a
319 second parameter. The second parameter can never be a string. Each argument
320 may be any numeric type (including complex). If *imag* is omitted, it
321 defaults to zero and the constructor serves as a numeric conversion like
322 :class:`int` and :class:`float`. If both arguments are omitted, returns
323 ``0j``.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000324
Serhiy Storchakabdbad712019-06-02 00:05:48 +0300325 For a general Python object ``x``, ``complex(x)`` delegates to
326 ``x.__complex__()``. If ``__complex__()`` is not defined then it falls back
327 to :meth:`__float__`. If ``__float__()`` is not defined then it falls back
328 to :meth:`__index__`.
329
Mark Dickinson328dd0d2012-03-10 16:09:35 +0000330 .. note::
331
332 When converting from a string, the string must not contain whitespace
333 around the central ``+`` or ``-`` operator. For example,
334 ``complex('1+2j')`` is fine, but ``complex('1 + 2j')`` raises
335 :exc:`ValueError`.
336
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000337 The complex type is described in :ref:`typesnumeric`.
338
Brett Cannona721aba2016-09-09 14:57:09 -0700339 .. versionchanged:: 3.6
340 Grouping digits with underscores as in code literals is allowed.
341
Serhiy Storchakabdbad712019-06-02 00:05:48 +0300342 .. versionchanged:: 3.8
343 Falls back to :meth:`__index__` if :meth:`__complex__` and
344 :meth:`__float__` are not defined.
345
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000346
347.. function:: delattr(object, name)
348
349 This is a relative of :func:`setattr`. The arguments are an object and a
350 string. The string must be the name of one of the object's attributes. The
351 function deletes the named attribute, provided the object allows it. For
352 example, ``delattr(x, 'foobar')`` is equivalent to ``del x.foobar``.
353
354
Éric Araujo9edd9f02011-09-01 23:08:55 +0200355.. _func-dict:
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200356.. class:: dict(**kwarg)
357 dict(mapping, **kwarg)
358 dict(iterable, **kwarg)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000359 :noindex:
360
Chris Jerdonekf3413172012-10-13 03:22:33 -0700361 Create a new dictionary. The :class:`dict` object is the dictionary class.
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200362 See :class:`dict` and :ref:`typesmapping` for documentation about this class.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000363
Chris Jerdonekf3413172012-10-13 03:22:33 -0700364 For other containers see the built-in :class:`list`, :class:`set`, and
365 :class:`tuple` classes, as well as the :mod:`collections` module.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000366
367
368.. function:: dir([object])
369
370 Without arguments, return the list of names in the current local scope. With an
371 argument, attempt to return a list of valid attributes for that object.
372
373 If the object has a method named :meth:`__dir__`, this method will be called and
374 must return the list of attributes. This allows objects that implement a custom
375 :func:`__getattr__` or :func:`__getattribute__` function to customize the way
376 :func:`dir` reports their attributes.
377
378 If the object does not provide :meth:`__dir__`, the function tries its best to
Martin Panterbae5d812016-06-18 03:57:31 +0000379 gather information from the object's :attr:`~object.__dict__` attribute, if defined, and
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000380 from its type object. The resulting list is not necessarily complete, and may
381 be inaccurate when the object has a custom :func:`__getattr__`.
382
383 The default :func:`dir` mechanism behaves differently with different types of
384 objects, as it attempts to produce the most relevant, rather than complete,
385 information:
386
387 * If the object is a module object, the list contains the names of the module's
388 attributes.
389
390 * If the object is a type or class object, the list contains the names of its
391 attributes, and recursively of the attributes of its bases.
392
393 * Otherwise, the list contains the object's attributes' names, the names of its
394 class's attributes, and recursively of the attributes of its class's base
395 classes.
396
Christian Heimesfe337bf2008-03-23 21:54:12 +0000397 The resulting list is sorted alphabetically. For example:
398
399 >>> import struct
Marco Buttue65fcde2017-04-27 14:23:34 +0200400 >>> dir() # show the names in the module namespace # doctest: +SKIP
Andrew Svetlov439e17f2012-08-12 15:16:42 +0300401 ['__builtins__', '__name__', 'struct']
402 >>> dir(struct) # show the names in the struct module # doctest: +SKIP
403 ['Struct', '__all__', '__builtins__', '__cached__', '__doc__', '__file__',
404 '__initializing__', '__loader__', '__name__', '__package__',
405 '_clearcache', 'calcsize', 'error', 'pack', 'pack_into',
Christian Heimesfe337bf2008-03-23 21:54:12 +0000406 'unpack', 'unpack_from']
Ezio Melottiaf8838f2013-03-11 09:30:21 +0200407 >>> class Shape:
Andrew Svetlov439e17f2012-08-12 15:16:42 +0300408 ... def __dir__(self):
409 ... return ['area', 'perimeter', 'location']
Raymond Hettinger90289282011-06-01 16:17:23 -0700410 >>> s = Shape()
411 >>> dir(s)
Andrew Svetlov439e17f2012-08-12 15:16:42 +0300412 ['area', 'location', 'perimeter']
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000413
414 .. note::
415
416 Because :func:`dir` is supplied primarily as a convenience for use at an
Georg Brandl036490d2009-05-17 13:00:36 +0000417 interactive prompt, it tries to supply an interesting set of names more
418 than it tries to supply a rigorously or consistently defined set of names,
419 and its detailed behavior may change across releases. For example,
420 metaclass attributes are not in the result list when the argument is a
421 class.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000422
423
424.. function:: divmod(a, b)
425
426 Take two (non complex) numbers as arguments and return a pair of numbers
Georg Brandl036490d2009-05-17 13:00:36 +0000427 consisting of their quotient and remainder when using integer division. With
428 mixed operand types, the rules for binary arithmetic operators apply. For
429 integers, the result is the same as ``(a // b, a % b)``. For floating point
430 numbers the result is ``(q, a % b)``, where *q* is usually ``math.floor(a /
431 b)`` but may be 1 less than that. In any case ``q * b + a % b`` is very
432 close to *a*, if ``a % b`` is non-zero it has the same sign as *b*, and ``0
433 <= abs(a % b) < abs(b)``.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000434
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000435
Georg Brandl036490d2009-05-17 13:00:36 +0000436.. function:: enumerate(iterable, start=0)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000437
Georg Brandld11ae5d2008-05-16 13:27:32 +0000438 Return an enumerate object. *iterable* must be a sequence, an
Ezio Melotti7fa82222012-10-12 13:42:08 +0300439 :term:`iterator`, or some other object which supports iteration.
440 The :meth:`~iterator.__next__` method of the iterator returned by
441 :func:`enumerate` returns a tuple containing a count (from *start* which
442 defaults to 0) and the values obtained from iterating over *iterable*.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000443
Raymond Hettinger9d3df6d2011-06-25 15:00:14 +0200444 >>> seasons = ['Spring', 'Summer', 'Fall', 'Winter']
445 >>> list(enumerate(seasons))
446 [(0, 'Spring'), (1, 'Summer'), (2, 'Fall'), (3, 'Winter')]
447 >>> list(enumerate(seasons, start=1))
448 [(1, 'Spring'), (2, 'Summer'), (3, 'Fall'), (4, 'Winter')]
Raymond Hettinger90289282011-06-01 16:17:23 -0700449
450 Equivalent to::
451
452 def enumerate(sequence, start=0):
453 n = start
454 for elem in sequence:
455 yield n, elem
456 n += 1
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000457
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000458
smokephil7a0023e2019-09-11 12:30:04 +0200459.. function:: eval(expression[, globals[, locals]])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000460
461 The arguments are a string and optional globals and locals. If provided,
462 *globals* must be a dictionary. If provided, *locals* can be any mapping
463 object.
464
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000465 The *expression* argument is parsed and evaluated as a Python expression
466 (technically speaking, a condition list) using the *globals* and *locals*
Georg Brandl9afde1c2007-11-01 20:32:30 +0000467 dictionaries as global and local namespace. If the *globals* dictionary is
Berker Peksag225b0552018-08-19 13:25:33 +0300468 present and does not contain a value for the key ``__builtins__``, a
469 reference to the dictionary of the built-in module :mod:`builtins` is
Raymond Hettinger610a4822019-08-06 17:56:22 -0700470 inserted under that key before *expression* is parsed. This means that
471 *expression* normally has full access to the standard :mod:`builtins`
472 module and restricted environments are propagated. If the *locals*
473 dictionary is omitted it defaults to the *globals* dictionary. If both
474 dictionaries are omitted, the expression is executed with the *globals* and
475 *locals* in the environment where :func:`eval` is called. Note, *eval()*
476 does not have access to the :term:`nested scope`\s (non-locals) in the
477 enclosing environment.
478
479 The return value is the result of
Christian Heimesfe337bf2008-03-23 21:54:12 +0000480 the evaluated expression. Syntax errors are reported as exceptions. Example:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000481
482 >>> x = 1
Georg Brandl6911e3c2007-09-04 07:15:32 +0000483 >>> eval('x+1')
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000484 2
485
Benjamin Peterson3e4f0552008-09-02 00:31:15 +0000486 This function can also be used to execute arbitrary code objects (such as
487 those created by :func:`compile`). In this case pass a code object instead
488 of a string. If the code object has been compiled with ``'exec'`` as the
Georg Brandl1f70cdf2010-03-21 09:04:24 +0000489 *mode* argument, :func:`eval`\'s return value will be ``None``.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000490
491 Hints: dynamic execution of statements is supported by the :func:`exec`
492 function. The :func:`globals` and :func:`locals` functions
493 returns the current global and local dictionary, respectively, which may be
494 useful to pass around for use by :func:`eval` or :func:`exec`.
495
Georg Brandl05bfcc52010-07-11 09:42:10 +0000496 See :func:`ast.literal_eval` for a function that can safely evaluate strings
497 with expressions containing only literals.
498
Steve Dower44f91c32019-06-27 10:47:59 -0700499 .. audit-event:: exec code_object eval
Steve Dowerb82e17e2019-05-23 08:45:22 -0700500
Steve Dower60419a72019-06-24 08:42:54 -0700501 Raises an :ref:`auditing event <auditing>` ``exec`` with the code object
502 as the argument. Code compilation events may also be raised.
Steve Dowerb82e17e2019-05-23 08:45:22 -0700503
Berker Peksag3410af42014-07-04 15:06:45 +0300504.. index:: builtin: exec
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000505
506.. function:: exec(object[, globals[, locals]])
507
Benjamin Petersond3013ff2008-11-11 21:43:42 +0000508 This function supports dynamic execution of Python code. *object* must be
509 either a string or a code object. If it is a string, the string is parsed as
510 a suite of Python statements which is then executed (unless a syntax error
Georg Brandl47f27a32009-03-31 16:57:13 +0000511 occurs). [#]_ If it is a code object, it is simply executed. In all cases,
512 the code that's executed is expected to be valid as file input (see the
513 section "File input" in the Reference Manual). Be aware that the
514 :keyword:`return` and :keyword:`yield` statements may not be used outside of
515 function definitions even within the context of code passed to the
516 :func:`exec` function. The return value is ``None``.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000517
518 In all cases, if the optional parts are omitted, the code is executed in the
Anthony Shaw059b9ea2019-06-02 01:51:58 +1000519 current scope. If only *globals* is provided, it must be a dictionary
520 (and not a subclass of dictionary), which
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000521 will be used for both the global and the local variables. If *globals* and
522 *locals* are given, they are used for the global and local variables,
Terry Jan Reedy83efd6c2012-07-08 17:36:14 -0400523 respectively. If provided, *locals* can be any mapping object. Remember
524 that at module level, globals and locals are the same dictionary. If exec
525 gets two separate objects as *globals* and *locals*, the code will be
526 executed as if it were embedded in a class definition.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000527
528 If the *globals* dictionary does not contain a value for the key
529 ``__builtins__``, a reference to the dictionary of the built-in module
Georg Brandl1a3284e2007-12-02 09:40:06 +0000530 :mod:`builtins` is inserted under that key. That way you can control what
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000531 builtins are available to the executed code by inserting your own
532 ``__builtins__`` dictionary into *globals* before passing it to :func:`exec`.
533
Steve Dower44f91c32019-06-27 10:47:59 -0700534 .. audit-event:: exec code_object exec
Steve Dowerb82e17e2019-05-23 08:45:22 -0700535
Steve Dower60419a72019-06-24 08:42:54 -0700536 Raises an :ref:`auditing event <auditing>` ``exec`` with the code object
537 as the argument. Code compilation events may also be raised.
Steve Dowerb82e17e2019-05-23 08:45:22 -0700538
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000539 .. note::
540
541 The built-in functions :func:`globals` and :func:`locals` return the current
542 global and local dictionary, respectively, which may be useful to pass around
543 for use as the second and third argument to :func:`exec`.
544
Georg Brandle720c0a2009-04-27 16:20:50 +0000545 .. note::
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000546
547 The default *locals* act as described for function :func:`locals` below:
Georg Brandlf6945182008-02-01 11:56:49 +0000548 modifications to the default *locals* dictionary should not be attempted.
549 Pass an explicit *locals* dictionary if you need to see effects of the
550 code on *locals* after function :func:`exec` returns.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000551
552
553.. function:: filter(function, iterable)
554
Georg Brandl952aea22007-09-04 17:50:40 +0000555 Construct an iterator from those elements of *iterable* for which *function*
556 returns true. *iterable* may be either a sequence, a container which
Georg Brandl9afde1c2007-11-01 20:32:30 +0000557 supports iteration, or an iterator. If *function* is ``None``, the identity
558 function is assumed, that is, all elements of *iterable* that are false are
559 removed.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000560
Georg Brandl952aea22007-09-04 17:50:40 +0000561 Note that ``filter(function, iterable)`` is equivalent to the generator
562 expression ``(item for item in iterable if function(item))`` if function is
563 not ``None`` and ``(item for item in iterable if item)`` if function is
564 ``None``.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000565
Raymond Hettingercdf8ba32009-02-19 04:45:07 +0000566 See :func:`itertools.filterfalse` for the complementary function that returns
567 elements of *iterable* for which *function* returns false.
568
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000569
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200570.. class:: float([x])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000571
Mark Dickinson47c74ac2010-11-21 21:09:58 +0000572 .. index::
573 single: NaN
574 single: Infinity
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000575
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200576 Return a floating point number constructed from a number or string *x*.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000577
Mark Dickinson47c74ac2010-11-21 21:09:58 +0000578 If the argument is a string, it should contain a decimal number, optionally
579 preceded by a sign, and optionally embedded in whitespace. The optional
580 sign may be ``'+'`` or ``'-'``; a ``'+'`` sign has no effect on the value
581 produced. The argument may also be a string representing a NaN
582 (not-a-number), or a positive or negative infinity. More precisely, the
583 input must conform to the following grammar after leading and trailing
584 whitespace characters are removed:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000585
Mark Dickinson47c74ac2010-11-21 21:09:58 +0000586 .. productionlist::
587 sign: "+" | "-"
588 infinity: "Infinity" | "inf"
589 nan: "nan"
Georg Brandl46402372010-12-04 19:06:18 +0000590 numeric_value: `floatnumber` | `infinity` | `nan`
591 numeric_string: [`sign`] `numeric_value`
Mark Dickinson47c74ac2010-11-21 21:09:58 +0000592
593 Here ``floatnumber`` is the form of a Python floating-point literal,
594 described in :ref:`floating`. Case is not significant, so, for example,
595 "inf", "Inf", "INFINITY" and "iNfINity" are all acceptable spellings for
596 positive infinity.
597
598 Otherwise, if the argument is an integer or a floating point number, a
599 floating point number with the same value (within Python's floating point
600 precision) is returned. If the argument is outside the range of a Python
601 float, an :exc:`OverflowError` will be raised.
602
603 For a general Python object ``x``, ``float(x)`` delegates to
Serhiy Storchakabdbad712019-06-02 00:05:48 +0300604 ``x.__float__()``. If ``__float__()`` is not defined then it falls back
605 to :meth:`__index__`.
Mark Dickinson47c74ac2010-11-21 21:09:58 +0000606
607 If no argument is given, ``0.0`` is returned.
608
609 Examples::
610
611 >>> float('+1.23')
612 1.23
613 >>> float(' -12345\n')
614 -12345.0
615 >>> float('1e-003')
616 0.001
617 >>> float('+1E6')
618 1000000.0
619 >>> float('-Infinity')
620 -inf
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000621
622 The float type is described in :ref:`typesnumeric`.
623
Brett Cannona721aba2016-09-09 14:57:09 -0700624 .. versionchanged:: 3.6
625 Grouping digits with underscores as in code literals is allowed.
Chris Jerdonekbb4e9412012-11-28 01:38:40 -0800626
Louis Sautier3fe89da2018-08-27 12:45:26 +0200627 .. versionchanged:: 3.7
628 *x* is now a positional-only parameter.
629
Serhiy Storchakabdbad712019-06-02 00:05:48 +0300630 .. versionchanged:: 3.8
631 Falls back to :meth:`__index__` if :meth:`__float__` is not defined.
632
Éric Araujo9edd9f02011-09-01 23:08:55 +0200633
Brett Cannona721aba2016-09-09 14:57:09 -0700634.. index::
635 single: __format__
636 single: string; format() (built-in function)
637
Georg Brandl4b491312007-08-31 09:22:56 +0000638.. function:: format(value[, format_spec])
639
Georg Brandl5579ba92009-02-23 10:24:05 +0000640 Convert a *value* to a "formatted" representation, as controlled by
641 *format_spec*. The interpretation of *format_spec* will depend on the type
642 of the *value* argument, however there is a standard formatting syntax that
643 is used by most built-in types: :ref:`formatspec`.
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +0000644
Raymond Hettinger30439b22011-05-11 10:47:27 -0700645 The default *format_spec* is an empty string which usually gives the same
Chris Jerdonek5fae0e52012-11-20 17:45:51 -0800646 effect as calling :func:`str(value) <str>`.
Georg Brandl4b491312007-08-31 09:22:56 +0000647
Raymond Hettinger30439b22011-05-11 10:47:27 -0700648 A call to ``format(value, format_spec)`` is translated to
Georg Brandle4196d32014-10-31 09:41:46 +0100649 ``type(value).__format__(value, format_spec)`` which bypasses the instance
Raymond Hettinger30439b22011-05-11 10:47:27 -0700650 dictionary when searching for the value's :meth:`__format__` method. A
Larry Hastings3732ed22014-03-15 21:13:56 -0700651 :exc:`TypeError` exception is raised if the method search reaches
652 :mod:`object` and the *format_spec* is non-empty, or if either the
653 *format_spec* or the return value are not strings.
Georg Brandl4b491312007-08-31 09:22:56 +0000654
Larry Hastings3732ed22014-03-15 21:13:56 -0700655 .. versionchanged:: 3.4
Andrew Svetlov0794fe02012-12-23 15:12:19 +0200656 ``object().__format__(format_spec)`` raises :exc:`TypeError`
Larry Hastings3732ed22014-03-15 21:13:56 -0700657 if *format_spec* is not an empty string.
Andrew Svetlov0794fe02012-12-23 15:12:19 +0200658
Éric Araujo9edd9f02011-09-01 23:08:55 +0200659
660.. _func-frozenset:
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200661.. class:: frozenset([iterable])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000662 :noindex:
663
Chris Jerdonekdf3abec2012-11-09 18:57:32 -0800664 Return a new :class:`frozenset` object, optionally with elements taken from
665 *iterable*. ``frozenset`` is a built-in class. See :class:`frozenset` and
666 :ref:`types-set` for documentation about this class.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000667
Chris Jerdonekdf3abec2012-11-09 18:57:32 -0800668 For other containers see the built-in :class:`set`, :class:`list`,
669 :class:`tuple`, and :class:`dict` classes, as well as the :mod:`collections`
670 module.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000671
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000672
673.. function:: getattr(object, name[, default])
674
Georg Brandl8e4ddcf2010-10-16 18:51:05 +0000675 Return the value of the named attribute of *object*. *name* must be a string.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000676 If the string is the name of one of the object's attributes, the result is the
677 value of that attribute. For example, ``getattr(x, 'foobar')`` is equivalent to
678 ``x.foobar``. If the named attribute does not exist, *default* is returned if
679 provided, otherwise :exc:`AttributeError` is raised.
680
681
682.. function:: globals()
683
684 Return a dictionary representing the current global symbol table. This is always
685 the dictionary of the current module (inside a function or method, this is the
686 module where it is defined, not the module from which it is called).
687
688
689.. function:: hasattr(object, name)
690
Benjamin Peterson17689992010-08-24 03:26:23 +0000691 The arguments are an object and a string. The result is ``True`` if the
692 string is the name of one of the object's attributes, ``False`` if not. (This
693 is implemented by calling ``getattr(object, name)`` and seeing whether it
694 raises an :exc:`AttributeError` or not.)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000695
696
697.. function:: hash(object)
698
Barry Warsaw224a5992013-07-15 14:47:29 -0400699 Return the hash value of the object (if it has one). Hash values are
700 integers. They are used to quickly compare dictionary keys during a
701 dictionary lookup. Numeric values that compare equal have the same hash
702 value (even if they are of different types, as is the case for 1 and 1.0).
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000703
Andrés Delfinobda9c3e2018-06-29 06:57:10 -0300704 .. note::
Barry Warsaw224a5992013-07-15 14:47:29 -0400705
Andrés Delfinobda9c3e2018-06-29 06:57:10 -0300706 For objects with custom :meth:`__hash__` methods, note that :func:`hash`
707 truncates the return value based on the bit width of the host machine.
708 See :meth:`__hash__` for details.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000709
710.. function:: help([object])
711
712 Invoke the built-in help system. (This function is intended for interactive
713 use.) If no argument is given, the interactive help system starts on the
714 interpreter console. If the argument is a string, then the string is looked up
715 as the name of a module, function, class, method, keyword, or documentation
716 topic, and a help page is printed on the console. If the argument is any other
717 kind of object, a help page on the object is generated.
718
Lysandros Nikolaou1aeeaeb2019-03-10 12:30:11 +0100719 Note that if a slash(/) appears in the parameter list of a function, when
720 invoking :func:`help`, it means that the parameters prior to the slash are
721 positional-only. For more info, see
722 :ref:`the FAQ entry on positional-only parameters <faq-positional-only-arguments>`.
723
Christian Heimes9bd667a2008-01-20 15:14:11 +0000724 This function is added to the built-in namespace by the :mod:`site` module.
725
Larry Hastings3732ed22014-03-15 21:13:56 -0700726 .. versionchanged:: 3.4
727 Changes to :mod:`pydoc` and :mod:`inspect` mean that the reported
728 signatures for callables are now more comprehensive and consistent.
729
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000730
731.. function:: hex(x)
732
Manvisha Kodali67ba4fa2017-07-06 22:30:58 +0300733 Convert an integer number to a lowercase hexadecimal string prefixed with
Serhiy Storchakadf00f042018-05-10 16:38:44 +0300734 "0x". If *x* is not a Python :class:`int` object, it has to define an
735 :meth:`__index__` method that returns an integer. Some examples:
Larry Hastings3732ed22014-03-15 21:13:56 -0700736
737 >>> hex(255)
738 '0xff'
739 >>> hex(-42)
740 '-0x2a'
741
Manvisha Kodali67ba4fa2017-07-06 22:30:58 +0300742 If you want to convert an integer number to an uppercase or lower hexadecimal
743 string with prefix or not, you can use either of the following ways:
744
745 >>> '%#x' % 255, '%x' % 255, '%X' % 255
746 ('0xff', 'ff', 'FF')
747 >>> format(255, '#x'), format(255, 'x'), format(255, 'X')
748 ('0xff', 'ff', 'FF')
749 >>> f'{255:#x}', f'{255:x}', f'{255:X}'
750 ('0xff', 'ff', 'FF')
751
752 See also :func:`format` for more information.
Larry Hastings3732ed22014-03-15 21:13:56 -0700753
754 See also :func:`int` for converting a hexadecimal string to an
755 integer using a base of 16.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000756
Mark Dickinson36cea392009-10-03 10:18:40 +0000757 .. note::
758
759 To obtain a hexadecimal string representation for a float, use the
760 :meth:`float.hex` method.
761
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000762
763.. function:: id(object)
764
Georg Brandlba956ae2007-11-29 17:24:34 +0000765 Return the "identity" of an object. This is an integer which
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000766 is guaranteed to be unique and constant for this object during its lifetime.
Georg Brandl495f7b52009-10-27 15:28:25 +0000767 Two objects with non-overlapping lifetimes may have the same :func:`id`
768 value.
769
Éric Araujof33de712011-05-27 04:42:47 +0200770 .. impl-detail:: This is the address of the object in memory.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000771
772
Georg Brandlc0902982007-09-12 21:29:27 +0000773.. function:: input([prompt])
774
775 If the *prompt* argument is present, it is written to standard output without
776 a trailing newline. The function then reads a line from input, converts it
777 to a string (stripping a trailing newline), and returns that. When EOF is
778 read, :exc:`EOFError` is raised. Example::
779
Andrew Svetlov439e17f2012-08-12 15:16:42 +0300780 >>> s = input('--> ') # doctest: +SKIP
Georg Brandlc0902982007-09-12 21:29:27 +0000781 --> Monty Python's Flying Circus
Andrew Svetlov439e17f2012-08-12 15:16:42 +0300782 >>> s # doctest: +SKIP
Georg Brandlc0902982007-09-12 21:29:27 +0000783 "Monty Python's Flying Circus"
784
Georg Brandl7b469422007-09-12 21:32:27 +0000785 If the :mod:`readline` module was loaded, then :func:`input` will use it
Georg Brandlc0902982007-09-12 21:29:27 +0000786 to provide elaborate line editing and history features.
787
Steve Dower44f91c32019-06-27 10:47:59 -0700788 .. audit-event:: builtins.input prompt input
Steve Dowerb82e17e2019-05-23 08:45:22 -0700789
Steve Dower60419a72019-06-24 08:42:54 -0700790 Raises an :ref:`auditing event <auditing>` ``builtins.input`` with
Steve Dowerb82e17e2019-05-23 08:45:22 -0700791 argument ``prompt`` before reading input
792
Steve Dower44f91c32019-06-27 10:47:59 -0700793 .. audit-event:: builtins.input/result result input
Steve Dowerb82e17e2019-05-23 08:45:22 -0700794
795 Raises an auditing event ``builtins.input/result`` with the result after
796 successfully reading input.
797
Georg Brandlc0902982007-09-12 21:29:27 +0000798
Louis Sautier3fe89da2018-08-27 12:45:26 +0200799.. class:: int([x])
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200800 int(x, base=10)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000801
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200802 Return an integer object constructed from a number or string *x*, or return
Serhiy Storchakadf00f042018-05-10 16:38:44 +0300803 ``0`` if no arguments are given. If *x* defines :meth:`__int__`,
Serhiy Storchakabdbad712019-06-02 00:05:48 +0300804 ``int(x)`` returns ``x.__int__()``. If *x* defines :meth:`__index__`,
805 it returns ``x.__index__()``. If *x* defines :meth:`__trunc__`,
Serhiy Storchakadf00f042018-05-10 16:38:44 +0300806 it returns ``x.__trunc__()``.
807 For floating point numbers, this truncates towards zero.
Chris Jerdonek57491e02012-09-28 00:10:44 -0700808
809 If *x* is not a number or if *base* is given, then *x* must be a string,
810 :class:`bytes`, or :class:`bytearray` instance representing an :ref:`integer
811 literal <integers>` in radix *base*. Optionally, the literal can be
812 preceded by ``+`` or ``-`` (with no space in between) and surrounded by
813 whitespace. A base-n literal consists of the digits 0 to n-1, with ``a``
814 to ``z`` (or ``A`` to ``Z``) having
Serhiy Storchakac7b1a0b2016-11-26 13:43:28 +0200815 values 10 to 35. The default *base* is 10. The allowed values are 0 and 2--36.
Georg Brandl225d3c82008-04-09 18:45:14 +0000816 Base-2, -8, and -16 literals can be optionally prefixed with ``0b``/``0B``,
Georg Brandl1b5ab452009-08-13 07:56:35 +0000817 ``0o``/``0O``, or ``0x``/``0X``, as with integer literals in code. Base 0
818 means to interpret exactly as a code literal, so that the actual base is 2,
Georg Brandl225d3c82008-04-09 18:45:14 +0000819 8, 10, or 16, and so that ``int('010', 0)`` is not legal, while
820 ``int('010')`` is, as well as ``int('010', 8)``.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000821
822 The integer type is described in :ref:`typesnumeric`.
823
Mark Dickinson07c71362013-01-27 10:17:52 +0000824 .. versionchanged:: 3.4
825 If *base* is not an instance of :class:`int` and the *base* object has a
826 :meth:`base.__index__ <object.__index__>` method, that method is called
827 to obtain an integer for the base. Previous versions used
828 :meth:`base.__int__ <object.__int__>` instead of :meth:`base.__index__
829 <object.__index__>`.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000830
Brett Cannona721aba2016-09-09 14:57:09 -0700831 .. versionchanged:: 3.6
832 Grouping digits with underscores as in code literals is allowed.
833
Louis Sautier3fe89da2018-08-27 12:45:26 +0200834 .. versionchanged:: 3.7
835 *x* is now a positional-only parameter.
836
Serhiy Storchakabdbad712019-06-02 00:05:48 +0300837 .. versionchanged:: 3.8
838 Falls back to :meth:`__index__` if :meth:`__int__` is not defined.
839
Brett Cannona721aba2016-09-09 14:57:09 -0700840
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000841.. function:: isinstance(object, classinfo)
842
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +0000843 Return true if the *object* argument is an instance of the *classinfo*
Éric Araujoe8b7eb02011-08-19 02:17:03 +0200844 argument, or of a (direct, indirect or :term:`virtual <abstract base
845 class>`) subclass thereof. If *object* is not
Terry Jan Reedy68b68742015-10-28 03:14:56 -0400846 an object of the given type, the function always returns false.
847 If *classinfo* is a tuple of type objects (or recursively, other such
848 tuples), return true if *object* is an instance of any of the types.
849 If *classinfo* is not a type or tuple of types and such tuples,
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +0000850 a :exc:`TypeError` exception is raised.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000851
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000852
853.. function:: issubclass(class, classinfo)
854
Éric Araujoe8b7eb02011-08-19 02:17:03 +0200855 Return true if *class* is a subclass (direct, indirect or :term:`virtual
856 <abstract base class>`) of *classinfo*. A
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000857 class is considered a subclass of itself. *classinfo* may be a tuple of class
858 objects, in which case every entry in *classinfo* will be checked. In any other
859 case, a :exc:`TypeError` exception is raised.
860
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000861
Georg Brandl036490d2009-05-17 13:00:36 +0000862.. function:: iter(object[, sentinel])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000863
Georg Brandl036490d2009-05-17 13:00:36 +0000864 Return an :term:`iterator` object. The first argument is interpreted very
865 differently depending on the presence of the second argument. Without a
866 second argument, *object* must be a collection object which supports the
867 iteration protocol (the :meth:`__iter__` method), or it must support the
868 sequence protocol (the :meth:`__getitem__` method with integer arguments
869 starting at ``0``). If it does not support either of those protocols,
870 :exc:`TypeError` is raised. If the second argument, *sentinel*, is given,
871 then *object* must be a callable object. The iterator created in this case
Ezio Melotti7fa82222012-10-12 13:42:08 +0300872 will call *object* with no arguments for each call to its
873 :meth:`~iterator.__next__` method; if the value returned is equal to
874 *sentinel*, :exc:`StopIteration` will be raised, otherwise the value will
875 be returned.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000876
Chris Jerdonek006d9072012-10-12 20:28:26 -0700877 See also :ref:`typeiter`.
878
Chris Randsd378b1f2018-12-24 06:07:17 +0100879 One useful application of the second form of :func:`iter` is to build a
880 block-reader. For example, reading fixed-width blocks from a binary
881 database file until the end of file is reached::
Benjamin Petersonf07d0022009-03-21 17:31:58 +0000882
Chris Randsd378b1f2018-12-24 06:07:17 +0100883 from functools import partial
884 with open('mydata.db', 'rb') as f:
Cristian Ciupitu11fa0e42019-02-21 09:53:06 +0200885 for block in iter(partial(f.read, 64), b''):
Chris Randsd378b1f2018-12-24 06:07:17 +0100886 process_block(block)
Benjamin Petersonf07d0022009-03-21 17:31:58 +0000887
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000888
889.. function:: len(s)
890
891 Return the length (the number of items) of an object. The argument may be a
Terry Jan Reedyf2fb73f2014-06-16 03:05:37 -0400892 sequence (such as a string, bytes, tuple, list, or range) or a collection
893 (such as a dictionary, set, or frozen set).
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000894
895
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +1000896.. _func-list:
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200897.. class:: list([iterable])
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +1000898 :noindex:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000899
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +1000900 Rather than being a function, :class:`list` is actually a mutable
Chris Jerdonek006d9072012-10-12 20:28:26 -0700901 sequence type, as documented in :ref:`typesseq-list` and :ref:`typesseq`.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000902
Georg Brandl036490d2009-05-17 13:00:36 +0000903
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000904.. function:: locals()
905
906 Update and return a dictionary representing the current local symbol table.
Benjamin Peterson4ac9ce42009-10-04 14:49:41 +0000907 Free variables are returned by :func:`locals` when it is called in function
Srinivas Reddy Thatiparthy (శ్రీనివాస్ రెడ్డి తాటిపర్తి)1c5fa5a2019-04-02 23:28:50 +0530908 blocks, but not in class blocks. Note that at the module level, :func:`locals`
909 and :func:`globals` are the same dictionary.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000910
Georg Brandle720c0a2009-04-27 16:20:50 +0000911 .. note::
Georg Brandl036490d2009-05-17 13:00:36 +0000912 The contents of this dictionary should not be modified; changes may not
Benjamin Peterson4ac9ce42009-10-04 14:49:41 +0000913 affect the values of local and free variables used by the interpreter.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000914
915.. function:: map(function, iterable, ...)
916
Georg Brandl952aea22007-09-04 17:50:40 +0000917 Return an iterator that applies *function* to every item of *iterable*,
918 yielding the results. If additional *iterable* arguments are passed,
919 *function* must take that many arguments and is applied to the items from all
Georg Brandlde2b00e2008-05-05 21:04:12 +0000920 iterables in parallel. With multiple iterables, the iterator stops when the
Raymond Hettingercdf8ba32009-02-19 04:45:07 +0000921 shortest iterable is exhausted. For cases where the function inputs are
922 already arranged into argument tuples, see :func:`itertools.starmap`\.
Georg Brandlde2b00e2008-05-05 21:04:12 +0000923
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000924
Raymond Hettingerf4284e42014-04-02 00:58:47 -0700925.. function:: max(iterable, *[, key, default])
Ezio Melottie0add762012-09-14 06:32:35 +0300926 max(arg1, arg2, *args[, key])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000927
Ezio Melottie0add762012-09-14 06:32:35 +0300928 Return the largest item in an iterable or the largest of two or more
929 arguments.
930
Raymond Hettinger4d6018f2013-06-24 22:43:02 -0700931 If one positional argument is provided, it should be an :term:`iterable`.
932 The largest item in the iterable is returned. If two or more positional
Raymond Hettingerb30b34c2014-04-03 08:01:22 -0700933 arguments are provided, the largest of the positional arguments is
Raymond Hettinger4d6018f2013-06-24 22:43:02 -0700934 returned.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000935
Raymond Hettinger4d6018f2013-06-24 22:43:02 -0700936 There are two optional keyword-only arguments. The *key* argument specifies
937 a one-argument ordering function like that used for :meth:`list.sort`. The
938 *default* argument specifies an object to return if the provided iterable is
939 empty. If the iterable is empty and *default* is not provided, a
940 :exc:`ValueError` is raised.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000941
Georg Brandl682d7e02010-10-06 10:26:05 +0000942 If multiple items are maximal, the function returns the first one
943 encountered. This is consistent with other sort-stability preserving tools
944 such as ``sorted(iterable, key=keyfunc, reverse=True)[0]`` and
Raymond Hettinger476a31e2010-09-14 23:13:42 +0000945 ``heapq.nlargest(1, iterable, key=keyfunc)``.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000946
Larry Hastings3732ed22014-03-15 21:13:56 -0700947 .. versionadded:: 3.4
948 The *default* keyword-only argument.
949
Alexander Marshalove22072f2018-07-24 10:58:21 +0700950 .. versionchanged:: 3.8
951 The *key* can be ``None``.
952
Éric Araujo9edd9f02011-09-01 23:08:55 +0200953
954.. _func-memoryview:
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +0000955.. function:: memoryview(obj)
Benjamin Peterson6dfcb022008-09-10 21:02:02 +0000956 :noindex:
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +0000957
Benjamin Peterson1b25b922008-09-09 22:15:27 +0000958 Return a "memory view" object created from the given argument. See
959 :ref:`typememoryview` for more information.
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +0000960
961
Raymond Hettingerf4284e42014-04-02 00:58:47 -0700962.. function:: min(iterable, *[, key, default])
Ezio Melottie0add762012-09-14 06:32:35 +0300963 min(arg1, arg2, *args[, key])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000964
Ezio Melottie0add762012-09-14 06:32:35 +0300965 Return the smallest item in an iterable or the smallest of two or more
966 arguments.
967
Raymond Hettinger4d6018f2013-06-24 22:43:02 -0700968 If one positional argument is provided, it should be an :term:`iterable`.
969 The smallest item in the iterable is returned. If two or more positional
970 arguments are provided, the smallest of the positional arguments is
971 returned.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000972
Raymond Hettinger4d6018f2013-06-24 22:43:02 -0700973 There are two optional keyword-only arguments. The *key* argument specifies
974 a one-argument ordering function like that used for :meth:`list.sort`. The
975 *default* argument specifies an object to return if the provided iterable is
976 empty. If the iterable is empty and *default* is not provided, a
977 :exc:`ValueError` is raised.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000978
Georg Brandl682d7e02010-10-06 10:26:05 +0000979 If multiple items are minimal, the function returns the first one
980 encountered. This is consistent with other sort-stability preserving tools
981 such as ``sorted(iterable, key=keyfunc)[0]`` and ``heapq.nsmallest(1,
982 iterable, key=keyfunc)``.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000983
Larry Hastings3732ed22014-03-15 21:13:56 -0700984 .. versionadded:: 3.4
985 The *default* keyword-only argument.
986
Alexander Marshalove22072f2018-07-24 10:58:21 +0700987 .. versionchanged:: 3.8
988 The *key* can be ``None``.
989
Georg Brandldf48b972014-03-24 09:06:18 +0100990
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000991.. function:: next(iterator[, default])
992
Ezio Melotti7fa82222012-10-12 13:42:08 +0300993 Retrieve the next item from the *iterator* by calling its
994 :meth:`~iterator.__next__` method. If *default* is given, it is returned
995 if the iterator is exhausted, otherwise :exc:`StopIteration` is raised.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000996
997
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200998.. class:: object()
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000999
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +00001000 Return a new featureless object. :class:`object` is a base for all classes.
Georg Brandl55ac8f02007-09-01 13:51:09 +00001001 It has the methods that are common to all instances of Python classes. This
1002 function does not accept any arguments.
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +00001003
1004 .. note::
1005
Serhiy Storchaka0d196ed2013-10-09 14:02:31 +03001006 :class:`object` does *not* have a :attr:`~object.__dict__`, so you can't
1007 assign arbitrary attributes to an instance of the :class:`object` class.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001008
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001009
1010.. function:: oct(x)
1011
Manvisha Kodali67ba4fa2017-07-06 22:30:58 +03001012 Convert an integer number to an octal string prefixed with "0o". The result
1013 is a valid Python expression. If *x* is not a Python :class:`int` object, it
1014 has to define an :meth:`__index__` method that returns an integer. For
1015 example:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001016
Manvisha Kodali67ba4fa2017-07-06 22:30:58 +03001017 >>> oct(8)
1018 '0o10'
1019 >>> oct(-56)
1020 '-0o70'
1021
1022 If you want to convert an integer number to octal string either with prefix
1023 "0o" or not, you can use either of the following ways.
1024
1025 >>> '%#o' % 10, '%o' % 10
1026 ('0o12', '12')
1027 >>> format(10, '#o'), format(10, 'o')
1028 ('0o12', '12')
1029 >>> f'{10:#o}', f'{10:o}'
1030 ('0o12', '12')
1031
1032 See also :func:`format` for more information.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001033
R David Murray9f0c9402012-08-17 20:33:54 -04001034 .. index::
1035 single: file object; open() built-in function
1036
Ross Lagerwall59142db2011-10-31 20:34:46 +02001037.. function:: open(file, mode='r', buffering=-1, encoding=None, errors=None, newline=None, closefd=True, opener=None)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001038
R David Murray9f0c9402012-08-17 20:33:54 -04001039 Open *file* and return a corresponding :term:`file object`. If the file
R David Murray8eac5752012-08-17 20:38:19 -04001040 cannot be opened, an :exc:`OSError` is raised.
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +00001041
Brett Cannon6fa7aad2016-09-06 15:55:02 -07001042 *file* is a :term:`path-like object` giving the pathname (absolute or
1043 relative to the current working directory) of the file to be opened or an
1044 integer file descriptor of the file to be wrapped. (If a file descriptor is
1045 given, it is closed when the returned I/O object is closed, unless *closefd*
1046 is set to ``False``.)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001047
Mark Summerfieldecff60e2007-12-14 10:07:44 +00001048 *mode* is an optional string that specifies the mode in which the file is
Benjamin Peterson4e4ffb12010-08-30 12:46:09 +00001049 opened. It defaults to ``'r'`` which means open for reading in text mode.
1050 Other common values are ``'w'`` for writing (truncating the file if it
Charles-François Natalib93f9fa2012-05-20 11:41:53 +02001051 already exists), ``'x'`` for exclusive creation and ``'a'`` for appending
1052 (which on *some* Unix systems, means that *all* writes append to the end of
1053 the file regardless of the current seek position). In text mode, if
Victor Stinnerf86a5e82012-06-05 13:43:22 +02001054 *encoding* is not specified the encoding used is platform dependent:
1055 ``locale.getpreferredencoding(False)`` is called to get the current locale
1056 encoding. (For reading and writing raw bytes use binary mode and leave
1057 *encoding* unspecified.) The available modes are:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001058
Andrés Delfinoa8ddf852018-06-25 03:06:10 -03001059 .. _filemodes:
1060
1061 .. index::
1062 pair: file; modes
1063
Benjamin Petersondd219122008-04-11 21:17:32 +00001064 ========= ===============================================================
1065 Character Meaning
Georg Brandl44ea77b2013-03-28 13:28:44 +01001066 ========= ===============================================================
Benjamin Petersondd219122008-04-11 21:17:32 +00001067 ``'r'`` open for reading (default)
Benjamin Peterson4e4ffb12010-08-30 12:46:09 +00001068 ``'w'`` open for writing, truncating the file first
Charles-François Natalib93f9fa2012-05-20 11:41:53 +02001069 ``'x'`` open for exclusive creation, failing if the file already exists
Benjamin Petersondd219122008-04-11 21:17:32 +00001070 ``'a'`` open for writing, appending to the end of the file if it exists
Georg Brandl7b6ca4a2009-04-27 06:13:55 +00001071 ``'b'`` binary mode
Benjamin Peterson4e4ffb12010-08-30 12:46:09 +00001072 ``'t'`` text mode (default)
Andre Delfinoc1d8c1c2019-09-10 10:04:22 -03001073 ``'+'`` open for updating (reading and writing)
Benjamin Petersondd219122008-04-11 21:17:32 +00001074 ========= ===============================================================
Mark Summerfieldecff60e2007-12-14 10:07:44 +00001075
Benjamin Peterson4e4ffb12010-08-30 12:46:09 +00001076 The default mode is ``'r'`` (open for reading text, synonym of ``'rt'``).
Andre Delfino05184512019-09-10 11:48:05 -03001077 Modes ``'w+'`` and ``'w+b'`` open and truncate the file. Modes ``'r+'``
1078 and ``'r+b'`` open the file with no truncation.
Skip Montanaro1c639602007-09-23 19:49:54 +00001079
Benjamin Peterson6b4fa772010-08-30 13:19:53 +00001080 As mentioned in the :ref:`io-overview`, Python distinguishes between binary
1081 and text I/O. Files opened in binary mode (including ``'b'`` in the *mode*
1082 argument) return contents as :class:`bytes` objects without any decoding. In
1083 text mode (the default, or when ``'t'`` is included in the *mode* argument),
1084 the contents of the file are returned as :class:`str`, the bytes having been
1085 first decoded using a platform-dependent encoding or using the specified
1086 *encoding* if given.
Mark Summerfieldecff60e2007-12-14 10:07:44 +00001087
Nick Coghlan3171df32019-01-28 02:21:11 +10001088 There is an additional mode character permitted, ``'U'``, which no longer
1089 has any effect, and is considered deprecated. It previously enabled
1090 :term:`universal newlines` in text mode, which became the default behaviour
1091 in Python 3.0. Refer to the documentation of the
1092 :ref:`newline <open-newline-parameter>` parameter for further details.
1093
Benjamin Peterson4e4ffb12010-08-30 12:46:09 +00001094 .. note::
Benjamin Peterson4e4ffb12010-08-30 12:46:09 +00001095
Benjamin Peterson6b4fa772010-08-30 13:19:53 +00001096 Python doesn't depend on the underlying operating system's notion of text
Ezio Melottie130a522011-10-19 10:58:56 +03001097 files; all the processing is done by Python itself, and is therefore
Benjamin Peterson6b4fa772010-08-30 13:19:53 +00001098 platform-independent.
Benjamin Peterson4e4ffb12010-08-30 12:46:09 +00001099
Benjamin Peterson6b4fa772010-08-30 13:19:53 +00001100 *buffering* is an optional integer used to set the buffering policy. Pass 0
1101 to switch buffering off (only allowed in binary mode), 1 to select line
1102 buffering (only usable in text mode), and an integer > 1 to indicate the size
Terry Jan Reedydff04f42013-03-16 15:56:27 -04001103 in bytes of a fixed-size chunk buffer. When no *buffering* argument is
1104 given, the default buffering policy works as follows:
Benjamin Peterson4e4ffb12010-08-30 12:46:09 +00001105
Benjamin Peterson6b4fa772010-08-30 13:19:53 +00001106 * Binary files are buffered in fixed-size chunks; the size of the buffer is
1107 chosen using a heuristic trying to determine the underlying device's "block
1108 size" and falling back on :attr:`io.DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE`. On many systems,
1109 the buffer will typically be 4096 or 8192 bytes long.
1110
Serhiy Storchaka0d196ed2013-10-09 14:02:31 +03001111 * "Interactive" text files (files for which :meth:`~io.IOBase.isatty`
Serhiy Storchakafbc1c262013-11-29 12:17:13 +02001112 returns ``True``) use line buffering. Other text files use the policy
Serhiy Storchaka0d196ed2013-10-09 14:02:31 +03001113 described above for binary files.
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +00001114
Benjamin Petersondd219122008-04-11 21:17:32 +00001115 *encoding* is the name of the encoding used to decode or encode the file.
1116 This should only be used in text mode. The default encoding is platform
Benjamin Peterson52c3bf12009-03-23 02:44:58 +00001117 dependent (whatever :func:`locale.getpreferredencoding` returns), but any
Nick Coghlanb9fdb7a2015-01-07 00:22:00 +10001118 :term:`text encoding` supported by Python
1119 can be used. See the :mod:`codecs` module for
Benjamin Peterson52c3bf12009-03-23 02:44:58 +00001120 the list of supported encodings.
Mark Summerfieldecff60e2007-12-14 10:07:44 +00001121
Benjamin Peterson52c3bf12009-03-23 02:44:58 +00001122 *errors* is an optional string that specifies how encoding and decoding
Martin Panter357ed2e2016-11-21 00:15:20 +00001123 errors are to be handled—this cannot be used in binary mode.
Nick Coghlanb9fdb7a2015-01-07 00:22:00 +10001124 A variety of standard error handlers are available
1125 (listed under :ref:`error-handlers`), though any
Andrew Kuchlingc7b6c502013-06-16 12:58:48 -04001126 error handling name that has been registered with
1127 :func:`codecs.register_error` is also valid. The standard names
Nick Coghlanb9fdb7a2015-01-07 00:22:00 +10001128 include:
Andrew Kuchlingc7b6c502013-06-16 12:58:48 -04001129
1130 * ``'strict'`` to raise a :exc:`ValueError` exception if there is
1131 an encoding error. The default value of ``None`` has the same
1132 effect.
1133
1134 * ``'ignore'`` ignores errors. Note that ignoring encoding errors
1135 can lead to data loss.
1136
1137 * ``'replace'`` causes a replacement marker (such as ``'?'``) to be inserted
1138 where there is malformed data.
1139
1140 * ``'surrogateescape'`` will represent any incorrect bytes as code
1141 points in the Unicode Private Use Area ranging from U+DC80 to
1142 U+DCFF. These private code points will then be turned back into
1143 the same bytes when the ``surrogateescape`` error handler is used
1144 when writing data. This is useful for processing files in an
1145 unknown encoding.
1146
1147 * ``'xmlcharrefreplace'`` is only supported when writing to a file.
1148 Characters not supported by the encoding are replaced with the
1149 appropriate XML character reference ``&#nnn;``.
1150
Serhiy Storchaka07985ef2015-01-25 22:56:57 +02001151 * ``'backslashreplace'`` replaces malformed data by Python's backslashed
1152 escape sequences.
Mark Summerfieldecff60e2007-12-14 10:07:44 +00001153
Serhiy Storchaka166ebc42014-11-25 13:57:17 +02001154 * ``'namereplace'`` (also only supported when writing)
1155 replaces unsupported characters with ``\N{...}`` escape sequences.
1156
R David Murray1b00f252012-08-15 10:43:58 -04001157 .. index::
1158 single: universal newlines; open() built-in function
1159
Nick Coghlan3171df32019-01-28 02:21:11 +10001160 .. _open-newline-parameter:
1161
R David Murray1b00f252012-08-15 10:43:58 -04001162 *newline* controls how :term:`universal newlines` mode works (it only
R David Murrayee0a9452012-08-15 11:05:36 -04001163 applies to text mode). It can be ``None``, ``''``, ``'\n'``, ``'\r'``, and
1164 ``'\r\n'``. It works as follows:
Mark Summerfieldecff60e2007-12-14 10:07:44 +00001165
Georg Brandl296d1be2012-08-14 09:39:07 +02001166 * When reading input from the stream, if *newline* is ``None``, universal
1167 newlines mode is enabled. Lines in the input can end in ``'\n'``,
1168 ``'\r'``, or ``'\r\n'``, and these are translated into ``'\n'`` before
R David Murray1b00f252012-08-15 10:43:58 -04001169 being returned to the caller. If it is ``''``, universal newlines mode is
Georg Brandl296d1be2012-08-14 09:39:07 +02001170 enabled, but line endings are returned to the caller untranslated. If it
1171 has any of the other legal values, input lines are only terminated by the
1172 given string, and the line ending is returned to the caller untranslated.
Benjamin Petersondd219122008-04-11 21:17:32 +00001173
Georg Brandl296d1be2012-08-14 09:39:07 +02001174 * When writing output to the stream, if *newline* is ``None``, any ``'\n'``
1175 characters written are translated to the system default line separator,
1176 :data:`os.linesep`. If *newline* is ``''`` or ``'\n'``, no translation
1177 takes place. If *newline* is any of the other legal values, any ``'\n'``
1178 characters written are translated to the given string.
Benjamin Petersondd219122008-04-11 21:17:32 +00001179
Benjamin Peterson8cad9c72009-03-23 02:38:01 +00001180 If *closefd* is ``False`` and a file descriptor rather than a filename was
1181 given, the underlying file descriptor will be kept open when the file is
Robert Collins933430a2014-10-18 13:32:43 +13001182 closed. If a filename is given *closefd* must be ``True`` (the default)
1183 otherwise an error will be raised.
Benjamin Peterson8cad9c72009-03-23 02:38:01 +00001184
Ross Lagerwall59142db2011-10-31 20:34:46 +02001185 A custom opener can be used by passing a callable as *opener*. The underlying
1186 file descriptor for the file object is then obtained by calling *opener* with
1187 (*file*, *flags*). *opener* must return an open file descriptor (passing
1188 :mod:`os.open` as *opener* results in functionality similar to passing
1189 ``None``).
1190
Victor Stinnerdaf45552013-08-28 00:53:59 +02001191 The newly created file is :ref:`non-inheritable <fd_inheritance>`.
1192
Éric Araujo5bd92702012-11-22 00:13:49 -05001193 The following example uses the :ref:`dir_fd <dir_fd>` parameter of the
Éric Araujo8f423c92012-11-03 17:06:52 -04001194 :func:`os.open` function to open a file relative to a given directory::
1195
1196 >>> import os
Éric Araujo5bd92702012-11-22 00:13:49 -05001197 >>> dir_fd = os.open('somedir', os.O_RDONLY)
1198 >>> def opener(path, flags):
1199 ... return os.open(path, flags, dir_fd=dir_fd)
Éric Araujo8f423c92012-11-03 17:06:52 -04001200 ...
Éric Araujo8f423c92012-11-03 17:06:52 -04001201 >>> with open('spamspam.txt', 'w', opener=opener) as f:
1202 ... print('This will be written to somedir/spamspam.txt', file=f)
1203 ...
Éric Araujo309b0432012-11-03 17:39:45 -04001204 >>> os.close(dir_fd) # don't leak a file descriptor
Éric Araujo8f423c92012-11-03 17:06:52 -04001205
R David Murray9f0c9402012-08-17 20:33:54 -04001206 The type of :term:`file object` returned by the :func:`open` function
R David Murray433ef3b2012-08-17 20:39:21 -04001207 depends on the mode. When :func:`open` is used to open a file in a text
1208 mode (``'w'``, ``'r'``, ``'wt'``, ``'rt'``, etc.), it returns a subclass of
Benjamin Peterson6b4fa772010-08-30 13:19:53 +00001209 :class:`io.TextIOBase` (specifically :class:`io.TextIOWrapper`). When used
1210 to open a file in a binary mode with buffering, the returned class is a
1211 subclass of :class:`io.BufferedIOBase`. The exact class varies: in read
Martin Panter7462b6492015-11-02 03:37:02 +00001212 binary mode, it returns an :class:`io.BufferedReader`; in write binary and
1213 append binary modes, it returns an :class:`io.BufferedWriter`, and in
1214 read/write mode, it returns an :class:`io.BufferedRandom`. When buffering is
Benjamin Peterson6b4fa772010-08-30 13:19:53 +00001215 disabled, the raw stream, a subclass of :class:`io.RawIOBase`,
1216 :class:`io.FileIO`, is returned.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001217
1218 .. index::
1219 single: line-buffered I/O
1220 single: unbuffered I/O
1221 single: buffer size, I/O
1222 single: I/O control; buffering
Skip Montanaro4d8c1932007-09-23 21:13:45 +00001223 single: binary mode
1224 single: text mode
1225 module: sys
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001226
Benjamin Petersondd219122008-04-11 21:17:32 +00001227 See also the file handling modules, such as, :mod:`fileinput`, :mod:`io`
Benjamin Peterson8cad9c72009-03-23 02:38:01 +00001228 (where :func:`open` is declared), :mod:`os`, :mod:`os.path`, :mod:`tempfile`,
1229 and :mod:`shutil`.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001230
Steve Dower44f91c32019-06-27 10:47:59 -07001231 .. audit-event:: open file,mode,flags open
Steve Dowerb82e17e2019-05-23 08:45:22 -07001232
1233 The ``mode`` and ``flags`` arguments may have been modified or inferred from
1234 the original call.
1235
Steve Dower39294992016-08-30 21:22:36 -07001236 .. versionchanged::
1237 3.3
Antoine Pitrou62ab10a02011-10-12 20:10:51 +02001238
Steve Dower39294992016-08-30 21:22:36 -07001239 * The *opener* parameter was added.
1240 * The ``'x'`` mode was added.
1241 * :exc:`IOError` used to be raised, it is now an alias of :exc:`OSError`.
1242 * :exc:`FileExistsError` is now raised if the file opened in exclusive
NAKAMURA Osamu29540cd2017-03-25 11:55:08 +09001243 creation mode (``'x'``) already exists.
Steve Dower39294992016-08-30 21:22:36 -07001244
1245 .. versionchanged::
1246 3.4
1247
1248 * The file is now non-inheritable.
Victor Stinnerdaf45552013-08-28 00:53:59 +02001249
Serhiy Storchaka6787a382013-11-23 22:12:06 +02001250 .. deprecated-removed:: 3.4 4.0
Victor Stinnerc803bd82014-10-22 09:55:44 +02001251
Serhiy Storchaka6787a382013-11-23 22:12:06 +02001252 The ``'U'`` mode.
1253
Steve Dower39294992016-08-30 21:22:36 -07001254 .. versionchanged::
1255 3.5
Victor Stinnera766ddf2015-03-26 23:50:57 +01001256
Steve Dower39294992016-08-30 21:22:36 -07001257 * If the system call is interrupted and the signal handler does not raise an
1258 exception, the function now retries the system call instead of raising an
1259 :exc:`InterruptedError` exception (see :pep:`475` for the rationale).
1260 * The ``'namereplace'`` error handler was added.
Georg Brandlf6945182008-02-01 11:56:49 +00001261
Steve Dower39294992016-08-30 21:22:36 -07001262 .. versionchanged::
1263 3.6
1264
1265 * Support added to accept objects implementing :class:`os.PathLike`.
1266 * On Windows, opening a console buffer may return a subclass of
1267 :class:`io.RawIOBase` other than :class:`io.FileIO`.
Brett Cannonb08388d2016-06-09 15:58:06 -07001268
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001269.. function:: ord(c)
1270
Ezio Melottic99c8582011-10-25 09:32:34 +03001271 Given a string representing one Unicode character, return an integer
Nick Coghlaneed67192014-08-17 14:07:53 +10001272 representing the Unicode code point of that character. For example,
Terry Jan Reedy063d48d2016-03-20 21:18:40 -04001273 ``ord('a')`` returns the integer ``97`` and ``ord('€')`` (Euro sign)
1274 returns ``8364``. This is the inverse of :func:`chr`.
Georg Brandlf6945182008-02-01 11:56:49 +00001275
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001276
Ammar Askar87d6cd32019-09-21 00:28:49 -04001277.. function:: pow(base, exp[, mod])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001278
Ammar Askar87d6cd32019-09-21 00:28:49 -04001279 Return *base* to the power *exp*; if *mod* is present, return *base* to the
1280 power *exp*, modulo *mod* (computed more efficiently than
1281 ``pow(base, exp) % mod``). The two-argument form ``pow(base, exp)`` is
1282 equivalent to using the power operator: ``base**exp``.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001283
Georg Brandle06de8b2008-05-05 21:42:51 +00001284 The arguments must have numeric types. With mixed operand types, the
1285 coercion rules for binary arithmetic operators apply. For :class:`int`
1286 operands, the result has the same type as the operands (after coercion)
1287 unless the second argument is negative; in that case, all arguments are
1288 converted to float and a float result is delivered. For example, ``10**2``
Mark Dickinsonc5299672019-06-02 10:24:06 +01001289 returns ``100``, but ``10**-2`` returns ``0.01``.
1290
Ammar Askar87d6cd32019-09-21 00:28:49 -04001291 For :class:`int` operands *base* and *exp*, if *mod* is present, *mod* must
1292 also be of integer type and *mod* must be nonzero. If *mod* is present and
1293 *exp* is negative, *base* must be relatively prime to *mod*. In that case,
1294 ``pow(inv_base, -exp, mod)`` is returned, where *inv_base* is an inverse to
1295 *base* modulo *mod*.
Mark Dickinsonc5299672019-06-02 10:24:06 +01001296
1297 Here's an example of computing an inverse for ``38`` modulo ``97``::
1298
Ammar Askar87d6cd32019-09-21 00:28:49 -04001299 >>> pow(38, -1, mod=97)
Mark Dickinsonc5299672019-06-02 10:24:06 +01001300 23
1301 >>> 23 * 38 % 97 == 1
1302 True
1303
1304 .. versionchanged:: 3.8
1305 For :class:`int` operands, the three-argument form of ``pow`` now allows
1306 the second argument to be negative, permitting computation of modular
1307 inverses.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001308
Ammar Askar87d6cd32019-09-21 00:28:49 -04001309 .. versionchanged:: 3.9
1310 Allow keyword arguments. Formerly, only positional arguments were
1311 supported.
1312
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001313
Ezio Melotti8429b672012-09-14 06:35:09 +03001314.. function:: print(*objects, sep=' ', end='\\n', file=sys.stdout, flush=False)
Georg Brandlf6945182008-02-01 11:56:49 +00001315
Terry Jan Reedy1895f2b2014-10-01 15:37:42 -04001316 Print *objects* to the text stream *file*, separated by *sep* and followed
Berker Peksag61b9ac92017-04-13 15:48:18 +03001317 by *end*. *sep*, *end*, *file* and *flush*, if present, must be given as keyword
Georg Brandlf6945182008-02-01 11:56:49 +00001318 arguments.
1319
1320 All non-keyword arguments are converted to strings like :func:`str` does and
1321 written to the stream, separated by *sep* and followed by *end*. Both *sep*
1322 and *end* must be strings; they can also be ``None``, which means to use the
Ezio Melottie0add762012-09-14 06:32:35 +03001323 default values. If no *objects* are given, :func:`print` will just write
Georg Brandlf6945182008-02-01 11:56:49 +00001324 *end*.
1325
1326 The *file* argument must be an object with a ``write(string)`` method; if it
Terry Jan Reedy1895f2b2014-10-01 15:37:42 -04001327 is not present or ``None``, :data:`sys.stdout` will be used. Since printed
1328 arguments are converted to text strings, :func:`print` cannot be used with
1329 binary mode file objects. For these, use ``file.write(...)`` instead.
1330
1331 Whether output is buffered is usually determined by *file*, but if the
1332 *flush* keyword argument is true, the stream is forcibly flushed.
Georg Brandlbc3b6822012-01-13 19:41:25 +01001333
1334 .. versionchanged:: 3.3
1335 Added the *flush* keyword argument.
Georg Brandlf6945182008-02-01 11:56:49 +00001336
1337
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +02001338.. class:: property(fget=None, fset=None, fdel=None, doc=None)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001339
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +00001340 Return a property attribute.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001341
Raymond Hettingerac191ce2014-08-10 10:41:25 -07001342 *fget* is a function for getting an attribute value. *fset* is a function
1343 for setting an attribute value. *fdel* is a function for deleting an attribute
1344 value. And *doc* creates a docstring for the attribute.
1345
1346 A typical use is to define a managed attribute ``x``::
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001347
Éric Araujo28053fb2010-11-22 03:09:19 +00001348 class C:
Alexandre Vassalotti5f8ced22008-05-16 00:03:33 +00001349 def __init__(self):
1350 self._x = None
1351
1352 def getx(self):
1353 return self._x
Raymond Hettingerac191ce2014-08-10 10:41:25 -07001354
Alexandre Vassalotti5f8ced22008-05-16 00:03:33 +00001355 def setx(self, value):
1356 self._x = value
Raymond Hettingerac191ce2014-08-10 10:41:25 -07001357
Alexandre Vassalotti5f8ced22008-05-16 00:03:33 +00001358 def delx(self):
1359 del self._x
Raymond Hettingerac191ce2014-08-10 10:41:25 -07001360
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001361 x = property(getx, setx, delx, "I'm the 'x' property.")
1362
Raymond Hettingerac191ce2014-08-10 10:41:25 -07001363 If *c* is an instance of *C*, ``c.x`` will invoke the getter,
Georg Brandl7528b9b2010-08-02 19:23:34 +00001364 ``c.x = value`` will invoke the setter and ``del c.x`` the deleter.
1365
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001366 If given, *doc* will be the docstring of the property attribute. Otherwise, the
1367 property will copy *fget*'s docstring (if it exists). This makes it possible to
Christian Heimesd8654cf2007-12-02 15:22:16 +00001368 create read-only properties easily using :func:`property` as a :term:`decorator`::
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001369
Éric Araujo28053fb2010-11-22 03:09:19 +00001370 class Parrot:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001371 def __init__(self):
1372 self._voltage = 100000
1373
1374 @property
1375 def voltage(self):
1376 """Get the current voltage."""
1377 return self._voltage
1378
Raymond Hettingerac191ce2014-08-10 10:41:25 -07001379 The ``@property`` decorator turns the :meth:`voltage` method into a "getter"
1380 for a read-only attribute with the same name, and it sets the docstring for
1381 *voltage* to "Get the current voltage."
Alexandre Vassalotti5f8ced22008-05-16 00:03:33 +00001382
Serhiy Storchaka0d196ed2013-10-09 14:02:31 +03001383 A property object has :attr:`~property.getter`, :attr:`~property.setter`,
1384 and :attr:`~property.deleter` methods usable as decorators that create a
1385 copy of the property with the corresponding accessor function set to the
1386 decorated function. This is best explained with an example::
Alexandre Vassalotti5f8ced22008-05-16 00:03:33 +00001387
Éric Araujo28053fb2010-11-22 03:09:19 +00001388 class C:
Benjamin Peterson206e3072008-10-19 14:07:49 +00001389 def __init__(self):
1390 self._x = None
Alexandre Vassalotti5f8ced22008-05-16 00:03:33 +00001391
1392 @property
1393 def x(self):
1394 """I'm the 'x' property."""
1395 return self._x
1396
1397 @x.setter
1398 def x(self, value):
1399 self._x = value
1400
1401 @x.deleter
1402 def x(self):
1403 del self._x
1404
1405 This code is exactly equivalent to the first example. Be sure to give the
1406 additional functions the same name as the original property (``x`` in this
1407 case.)
1408
Raymond Hettingerac191ce2014-08-10 10:41:25 -07001409 The returned property object also has the attributes ``fget``, ``fset``, and
Alexandre Vassalotti5f8ced22008-05-16 00:03:33 +00001410 ``fdel`` corresponding to the constructor arguments.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001411
Raymond Hettinger29655df2015-05-15 16:17:05 -07001412 .. versionchanged:: 3.5
1413 The docstrings of property objects are now writeable.
1414
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001415
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +10001416.. _func-range:
Ezio Melottie0add762012-09-14 06:32:35 +03001417.. function:: range(stop)
1418 range(start, stop[, step])
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +10001419 :noindex:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001420
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +10001421 Rather than being a function, :class:`range` is actually an immutable
Chris Jerdonek006d9072012-10-12 20:28:26 -07001422 sequence type, as documented in :ref:`typesseq-range` and :ref:`typesseq`.
Benjamin Peterson878ce382011-11-05 15:17:52 -04001423
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001424
1425.. function:: repr(object)
1426
Georg Brandl68ee3a52008-03-25 07:21:32 +00001427 Return a string containing a printable representation of an object. For many
1428 types, this function makes an attempt to return a string that would yield an
1429 object with the same value when passed to :func:`eval`, otherwise the
1430 representation is a string enclosed in angle brackets that contains the name
1431 of the type of the object together with additional information often
1432 including the name and address of the object. A class can control what this
1433 function returns for its instances by defining a :meth:`__repr__` method.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001434
1435
1436.. function:: reversed(seq)
1437
Christian Heimes7f044312008-01-06 17:05:40 +00001438 Return a reverse :term:`iterator`. *seq* must be an object which has
1439 a :meth:`__reversed__` method or supports the sequence protocol (the
1440 :meth:`__len__` method and the :meth:`__getitem__` method with integer
1441 arguments starting at ``0``).
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001442
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001443
Mark Dickinson4e12ad12012-09-20 20:51:14 +01001444.. function:: round(number[, ndigits])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001445
csabella85deefc2017-03-29 17:14:06 -04001446 Return *number* rounded to *ndigits* precision after the decimal
1447 point. If *ndigits* is omitted or is ``None``, it returns the
1448 nearest integer to its input.
Georg Brandl809ddaa2008-07-01 20:39:59 +00001449
1450 For the built-in types supporting :func:`round`, values are rounded to the
Mark Dickinson4e12ad12012-09-20 20:51:14 +01001451 closest multiple of 10 to the power minus *ndigits*; if two multiples are
1452 equally close, rounding is done toward the even choice (so, for example,
1453 both ``round(0.5)`` and ``round(-0.5)`` are ``0``, and ``round(1.5)`` is
Gerrit Holl6003db72017-03-27 23:15:20 +01001454 ``2``). Any integer value is valid for *ndigits* (positive, zero, or
Lisa Roach900c48d2018-05-20 11:00:18 -04001455 negative). The return value is an integer if *ndigits* is omitted or
1456 ``None``.
1457 Otherwise the return value has the same type as *number*.
Christian Heimes072c0f12008-01-03 23:01:04 +00001458
Lisa Roach900c48d2018-05-20 11:00:18 -04001459 For a general Python object ``number``, ``round`` delegates to
1460 ``number.__round__``.
csabella85deefc2017-03-29 17:14:06 -04001461
Mark Dickinsonc4fbcdc2010-07-30 13:13:02 +00001462 .. note::
1463
1464 The behavior of :func:`round` for floats can be surprising: for example,
1465 ``round(2.675, 2)`` gives ``2.67`` instead of the expected ``2.68``.
1466 This is not a bug: it's a result of the fact that most decimal fractions
1467 can't be represented exactly as a float. See :ref:`tut-fp-issues` for
1468 more information.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001469
Éric Araujo9edd9f02011-09-01 23:08:55 +02001470
1471.. _func-set:
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +02001472.. class:: set([iterable])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001473 :noindex:
1474
Chris Jerdonekdf3abec2012-11-09 18:57:32 -08001475 Return a new :class:`set` object, optionally with elements taken from
1476 *iterable*. ``set`` is a built-in class. See :class:`set` and
1477 :ref:`types-set` for documentation about this class.
1478
1479 For other containers see the built-in :class:`frozenset`, :class:`list`,
1480 :class:`tuple`, and :class:`dict` classes, as well as the :mod:`collections`
1481 module.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001482
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001483
1484.. function:: setattr(object, name, value)
1485
1486 This is the counterpart of :func:`getattr`. The arguments are an object, a
1487 string and an arbitrary value. The string may name an existing attribute or a
1488 new attribute. The function assigns the value to the attribute, provided the
1489 object allows it. For example, ``setattr(x, 'foobar', 123)`` is equivalent to
1490 ``x.foobar = 123``.
1491
1492
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +02001493.. class:: slice(stop)
1494 slice(start, stop[, step])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001495
1496 .. index:: single: Numerical Python
1497
Christian Heimesd8654cf2007-12-02 15:22:16 +00001498 Return a :term:`slice` object representing the set of indices specified by
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001499 ``range(start, stop, step)``. The *start* and *step* arguments default to
Serhiy Storchaka0d196ed2013-10-09 14:02:31 +03001500 ``None``. Slice objects have read-only data attributes :attr:`~slice.start`,
1501 :attr:`~slice.stop` and :attr:`~slice.step` which merely return the argument
1502 values (or their default). They have no other explicit functionality;
1503 however they are used by Numerical Python and other third party extensions.
1504 Slice objects are also generated when extended indexing syntax is used. For
1505 example: ``a[start:stop:step]`` or ``a[start:stop, i]``. See
1506 :func:`itertools.islice` for an alternate version that returns an iterator.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001507
1508
Łukasz Rogalskibe37beb2017-07-14 21:23:39 +02001509.. function:: sorted(iterable, *, key=None, reverse=False)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001510
1511 Return a new sorted list from the items in *iterable*.
1512
Raymond Hettinger51b9c242008-02-14 13:52:24 +00001513 Has two optional arguments which must be specified as keyword arguments.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001514
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001515 *key* specifies a function of one argument that is used to extract a comparison
Wolfgang Maier6bdb6f72018-10-15 21:06:53 +02001516 key from each element in *iterable* (for example, ``key=str.lower``). The
1517 default value is ``None`` (compare the elements directly).
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001518
1519 *reverse* is a boolean value. If set to ``True``, then the list elements are
1520 sorted as if each comparison were reversed.
1521
Benjamin Peterson7ac98ae2010-08-17 17:52:02 +00001522 Use :func:`functools.cmp_to_key` to convert an old-style *cmp* function to a
1523 *key* function.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001524
Ezio Melotti9b1e92f2014-10-28 12:57:11 +01001525 The built-in :func:`sorted` function is guaranteed to be stable. A sort is
1526 stable if it guarantees not to change the relative order of elements that
1527 compare equal --- this is helpful for sorting in multiple passes (for
1528 example, sort by department, then by salary grade).
1529
Senthil Kumarand03d1d42016-01-01 23:25:58 -08001530 For sorting examples and a brief sorting tutorial, see :ref:`sortinghowto`.
Raymond Hettinger46fca072010-04-02 00:25:45 +00001531
Daisuke Miyakawa0e61e672017-10-12 23:39:43 +09001532.. decorator:: staticmethod
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001533
Daisuke Miyakawa0e61e672017-10-12 23:39:43 +09001534 Transform a method into a static method.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001535
1536 A static method does not receive an implicit first argument. To declare a static
1537 method, use this idiom::
1538
1539 class C:
1540 @staticmethod
1541 def f(arg1, arg2, ...): ...
1542
Andre Delfino548cb602019-03-25 19:53:43 -03001543 The ``@staticmethod`` form is a function :term:`decorator` -- see
1544 :ref:`function` for details.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001545
Andre Delfino548cb602019-03-25 19:53:43 -03001546 A static method can be called either on the class (such as ``C.f()``) or on an instance (such
1547 as ``C().f()``).
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001548
Raymond Hettinger90289282011-06-01 16:17:23 -07001549 Static methods in Python are similar to those found in Java or C++. Also see
1550 :func:`classmethod` for a variant that is useful for creating alternate class
1551 constructors.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001552
Éric Araujo03b95372017-10-12 12:28:55 -04001553 Like all decorators, it is also possible to call ``staticmethod`` as
1554 a regular function and do something with its result. This is needed
1555 in some cases where you need a reference to a function from a class
1556 body and you want to avoid the automatic transformation to instance
cocoatomo2a3260b2018-01-29 17:30:48 +09001557 method. For these cases, use this idiom::
Éric Araujo03b95372017-10-12 12:28:55 -04001558
1559 class C:
1560 builtin_open = staticmethod(open)
1561
Andre Delfino548cb602019-03-25 19:53:43 -03001562 For more information on static methods, see :ref:`types`.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001563
Chris Jerdonek5fae0e52012-11-20 17:45:51 -08001564
Éric Araujo03b95372017-10-12 12:28:55 -04001565.. index::
1566 single: string; str() (built-in function)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001567
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +10001568.. _func-str:
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +02001569.. class:: str(object='')
1570 str(object=b'', encoding='utf-8', errors='strict')
Chris Jerdonekbb4e9412012-11-28 01:38:40 -08001571 :noindex:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001572
Chris Jerdonekbb4e9412012-11-28 01:38:40 -08001573 Return a :class:`str` version of *object*. See :func:`str` for details.
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +00001574
Chris Jerdonekbb4e9412012-11-28 01:38:40 -08001575 ``str`` is the built-in string :term:`class`. For general information
1576 about strings, see :ref:`textseq`.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001577
1578
Pablo Galindoc4c421d2019-06-06 00:11:46 +01001579.. function:: sum(iterable, /, start=0)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001580
1581 Sums *start* and the items of an *iterable* from left to right and returns the
Pablo Galindoc4c421d2019-06-06 00:11:46 +01001582 total. The *iterable*'s items are normally numbers, and the start value is not
1583 allowed to be a string.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001584
Éric Araujo8f9626b2010-11-06 06:30:16 +00001585 For some use cases, there are good alternatives to :func:`sum`.
Raymond Hettingerb3737992010-10-31 21:23:24 +00001586 The preferred, fast way to concatenate a sequence of strings is by calling
1587 ``''.join(sequence)``. To add floating point values with extended precision,
1588 see :func:`math.fsum`\. To concatenate a series of iterables, consider using
1589 :func:`itertools.chain`.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001590
Raymond Hettinger9dfa0fe2018-09-12 10:54:06 -07001591 .. versionchanged:: 3.8
1592 The *start* parameter can be specified as a keyword argument.
1593
Mark Summerfield1041f742008-02-26 13:27:00 +00001594.. function:: super([type[, object-or-type]])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001595
Raymond Hettinger4d9a8232009-02-24 23:30:43 +00001596 Return a proxy object that delegates method calls to a parent or sibling
1597 class of *type*. This is useful for accessing inherited methods that have
Raymond Hettingercd81f052019-08-29 00:44:02 -07001598 been overridden in a class.
Raymond Hettinger4d9a8232009-02-24 23:30:43 +00001599
Raymond Hettingercd81f052019-08-29 00:44:02 -07001600 The *object-or-type* determines the :term:`method resolution order`
1601 to be searched. The search starts from the class right after the
1602 *type*.
1603
1604 For example, if :attr:`~class.__mro__` of *object-or-type* is
1605 ``D -> B -> C -> A -> object`` and the value of *type* is ``B``,
1606 then :func:`super` searches ``C -> A -> object``.
1607
1608 The :attr:`~class.__mro__` attribute of the *object-or-type* lists the method
Serhiy Storchaka0d196ed2013-10-09 14:02:31 +03001609 resolution search order used by both :func:`getattr` and :func:`super`. The
1610 attribute is dynamic and can change whenever the inheritance hierarchy is
1611 updated.
Benjamin Peterson3e4f0552008-09-02 00:31:15 +00001612
Raymond Hettinger79d04342009-02-25 00:32:51 +00001613 If the second argument is omitted, the super object returned is unbound. If
Benjamin Peterson9bc93512008-09-22 22:10:59 +00001614 the second argument is an object, ``isinstance(obj, type)`` must be true. If
Benjamin Petersond75fcb42009-02-19 04:22:03 +00001615 the second argument is a type, ``issubclass(type2, type)`` must be true (this
1616 is useful for classmethods).
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001617
Raymond Hettinger0a68b012009-02-25 00:58:47 +00001618 There are two typical use cases for *super*. In a class hierarchy with
1619 single inheritance, *super* can be used to refer to parent classes without
Benjamin Peterson9bc93512008-09-22 22:10:59 +00001620 naming them explicitly, thus making the code more maintainable. This use
Raymond Hettinger0a68b012009-02-25 00:58:47 +00001621 closely parallels the use of *super* in other programming languages.
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +00001622
Raymond Hettinger4d9a8232009-02-24 23:30:43 +00001623 The second use case is to support cooperative multiple inheritance in a
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +00001624 dynamic execution environment. This use case is unique to Python and is
1625 not found in statically compiled languages or languages that only support
Raymond Hettingerd1258452009-02-26 00:27:18 +00001626 single inheritance. This makes it possible to implement "diamond diagrams"
Benjamin Peterson9bc93512008-09-22 22:10:59 +00001627 where multiple base classes implement the same method. Good design dictates
1628 that this method have the same calling signature in every case (because the
Raymond Hettinger4d9a8232009-02-24 23:30:43 +00001629 order of calls is determined at runtime, because that order adapts
1630 to changes in the class hierarchy, and because that order can include
1631 sibling classes that are unknown prior to runtime).
Benjamin Peterson9bc93512008-09-22 22:10:59 +00001632
1633 For both use cases, a typical superclass call looks like this::
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001634
1635 class C(B):
Mark Summerfield1041f742008-02-26 13:27:00 +00001636 def method(self, arg):
Georg Brandl036490d2009-05-17 13:00:36 +00001637 super().method(arg) # This does the same thing as:
1638 # super(C, self).method(arg)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001639
1640 Note that :func:`super` is implemented as part of the binding process for
Mark Summerfield1041f742008-02-26 13:27:00 +00001641 explicit dotted attribute lookups such as ``super().__getitem__(name)``.
Benjamin Peterson9bc93512008-09-22 22:10:59 +00001642 It does so by implementing its own :meth:`__getattribute__` method for searching
Raymond Hettinger4d9a8232009-02-24 23:30:43 +00001643 classes in a predictable order that supports cooperative multiple inheritance.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001644 Accordingly, :func:`super` is undefined for implicit lookups using statements or
Raymond Hettinger518d8da2008-12-06 11:44:00 +00001645 operators such as ``super()[name]``.
1646
Nick Coghlan7fc570a2012-05-20 02:34:13 +10001647 Also note that, aside from the zero argument form, :func:`super` is not
1648 limited to use inside methods. The two argument form specifies the
1649 arguments exactly and makes the appropriate references. The zero
1650 argument form only works inside a class definition, as the compiler fills
1651 in the necessary details to correctly retrieve the class being defined,
1652 as well as accessing the current instance for ordinary methods.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001653
Raymond Hettinger90289282011-06-01 16:17:23 -07001654 For practical suggestions on how to design cooperative classes using
1655 :func:`super`, see `guide to using super()
Georg Brandl5d941342016-02-26 19:37:12 +01001656 <https://rhettinger.wordpress.com/2011/05/26/super-considered-super/>`_.
Raymond Hettinger90289282011-06-01 16:17:23 -07001657
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001658
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +10001659.. _func-tuple:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001660.. function:: tuple([iterable])
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +10001661 :noindex:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001662
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +10001663 Rather than being a function, :class:`tuple` is actually an immutable
Chris Jerdonek006d9072012-10-12 20:28:26 -07001664 sequence type, as documented in :ref:`typesseq-tuple` and :ref:`typesseq`.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001665
1666
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +02001667.. class:: type(object)
1668 type(name, bases, dict)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001669
1670 .. index:: object: type
1671
Ezio Melotti837cd062012-10-24 23:06:25 +03001672 With one argument, return the type of an *object*. The return value is a
Serhiy Storchaka0d196ed2013-10-09 14:02:31 +03001673 type object and generally the same object as returned by
1674 :attr:`object.__class__ <instance.__class__>`.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001675
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +00001676 The :func:`isinstance` built-in function is recommended for testing the type
1677 of an object, because it takes subclasses into account.
1678
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001679
Ezio Melotti837cd062012-10-24 23:06:25 +03001680 With three arguments, return a new type object. This is essentially a
1681 dynamic form of the :keyword:`class` statement. The *name* string is the
Martin Panterbae5d812016-06-18 03:57:31 +00001682 class name and becomes the :attr:`~definition.__name__` attribute; the *bases*
Serhiy Storchaka0d196ed2013-10-09 14:02:31 +03001683 tuple itemizes the base classes and becomes the :attr:`~class.__bases__`
1684 attribute; and the *dict* dictionary is the namespace containing definitions
R David Murraydd4fcf52016-06-02 20:05:43 -04001685 for class body and is copied to a standard dictionary to become the
1686 :attr:`~object.__dict__` attribute. For example, the following two
1687 statements create identical :class:`type` objects:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001688
Éric Araujo28053fb2010-11-22 03:09:19 +00001689 >>> class X:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001690 ... a = 1
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +00001691 ...
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001692 >>> X = type('X', (object,), dict(a=1))
1693
Chris Jerdonek006d9072012-10-12 20:28:26 -07001694 See also :ref:`bltin-type-objects`.
1695
Berker Peksag3f015a62016-08-19 11:04:07 +03001696 .. versionchanged:: 3.6
1697 Subclasses of :class:`type` which don't override ``type.__new__`` may no
1698 longer use the one-argument form to get the type of an object.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001699
1700.. function:: vars([object])
1701
Serhiy Storchaka0d196ed2013-10-09 14:02:31 +03001702 Return the :attr:`~object.__dict__` attribute for a module, class, instance,
Martin Panterbae5d812016-06-18 03:57:31 +00001703 or any other object with a :attr:`~object.__dict__` attribute.
Benjamin Peterson4ac9ce42009-10-04 14:49:41 +00001704
Martin Panterbae5d812016-06-18 03:57:31 +00001705 Objects such as modules and instances have an updateable :attr:`~object.__dict__`
Raymond Hettingerd7100172013-06-02 10:03:05 -07001706 attribute; however, other objects may have write restrictions on their
Martin Panterbae5d812016-06-18 03:57:31 +00001707 :attr:`~object.__dict__` attributes (for example, classes use a
Berker Peksag37e87e62016-06-24 09:12:01 +03001708 :class:`types.MappingProxyType` to prevent direct dictionary updates).
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001709
Raymond Hettingerd7100172013-06-02 10:03:05 -07001710 Without an argument, :func:`vars` acts like :func:`locals`. Note, the
1711 locals dictionary is only useful for reads since updates to the locals
1712 dictionary are ignored.
1713
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001714
Raymond Hettingerdd1150e2008-03-13 02:39:40 +00001715.. function:: zip(*iterables)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001716
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +00001717 Make an iterator that aggregates elements from each of the iterables.
Raymond Hettingerdd1150e2008-03-13 02:39:40 +00001718
1719 Returns an iterator of tuples, where the *i*-th tuple contains
Georg Brandl952aea22007-09-04 17:50:40 +00001720 the *i*-th element from each of the argument sequences or iterables. The
Raymond Hettingerdd1150e2008-03-13 02:39:40 +00001721 iterator stops when the shortest input iterable is exhausted. With a single
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +00001722 iterable argument, it returns an iterator of 1-tuples. With no arguments,
Raymond Hettingerdd1150e2008-03-13 02:39:40 +00001723 it returns an empty iterator. Equivalent to::
1724
Raymond Hettinger2f08df32010-10-10 05:54:39 +00001725 def zip(*iterables):
1726 # zip('ABCD', 'xy') --> Ax By
1727 sentinel = object()
Raymond Hettinger6f45d182011-10-30 15:06:14 -07001728 iterators = [iter(it) for it in iterables]
1729 while iterators:
Raymond Hettinger2f08df32010-10-10 05:54:39 +00001730 result = []
Raymond Hettinger6f45d182011-10-30 15:06:14 -07001731 for it in iterators:
Raymond Hettinger2f08df32010-10-10 05:54:39 +00001732 elem = next(it, sentinel)
1733 if elem is sentinel:
1734 return
1735 result.append(elem)
1736 yield tuple(result)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001737
Christian Heimes1af737c2008-01-23 08:24:23 +00001738 The left-to-right evaluation order of the iterables is guaranteed. This
1739 makes possible an idiom for clustering a data series into n-length groups
Raymond Hettinger0907a452015-05-13 02:34:38 -07001740 using ``zip(*[iter(s)]*n)``. This repeats the *same* iterator ``n`` times
1741 so that each output tuple has the result of ``n`` calls to the iterator.
1742 This has the effect of dividing the input into n-length chunks.
Christian Heimes1af737c2008-01-23 08:24:23 +00001743
Raymond Hettingerdd1150e2008-03-13 02:39:40 +00001744 :func:`zip` should only be used with unequal length inputs when you don't
1745 care about trailing, unmatched values from the longer iterables. If those
1746 values are important, use :func:`itertools.zip_longest` instead.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001747
Benjamin Petersonf10a79a2008-10-11 00:49:57 +00001748 :func:`zip` in conjunction with the ``*`` operator can be used to unzip a
1749 list::
1750
1751 >>> x = [1, 2, 3]
1752 >>> y = [4, 5, 6]
1753 >>> zipped = zip(x, y)
Georg Brandl17fe3642008-12-06 14:28:56 +00001754 >>> list(zipped)
Benjamin Petersonf10a79a2008-10-11 00:49:57 +00001755 [(1, 4), (2, 5), (3, 6)]
Georg Brandl17fe3642008-12-06 14:28:56 +00001756 >>> x2, y2 = zip(*zip(x, y))
Benjamin Petersonfa0d7032009-06-01 22:42:33 +00001757 >>> x == list(x2) and y == list(y2)
Benjamin Petersonf10a79a2008-10-11 00:49:57 +00001758 True
1759
Georg Brandl2ee470f2008-07-16 12:55:28 +00001760
Brett Cannoncb4996a2012-08-06 16:34:44 -04001761.. function:: __import__(name, globals=None, locals=None, fromlist=(), level=0)
Georg Brandl48367812008-12-05 15:55:41 +00001762
1763 .. index::
1764 statement: import
1765 module: imp
1766
1767 .. note::
1768
1769 This is an advanced function that is not needed in everyday Python
Éric Araujoe801aa22011-07-29 17:50:58 +02001770 programming, unlike :func:`importlib.import_module`.
Georg Brandl48367812008-12-05 15:55:41 +00001771
Benjamin Peterson6ebe78f2008-12-21 00:06:59 +00001772 This function is invoked by the :keyword:`import` statement. It can be
1773 replaced (by importing the :mod:`builtins` module and assigning to
1774 ``builtins.__import__``) in order to change semantics of the
Serhiy Storchaka2b57c432018-12-19 08:09:46 +02001775 :keyword:`!import` statement, but doing so is **strongly** discouraged as it
Brett Cannonf5ebd262013-08-23 10:58:49 -04001776 is usually simpler to use import hooks (see :pep:`302`) to attain the same
1777 goals and does not cause issues with code which assumes the default import
1778 implementation is in use. Direct use of :func:`__import__` is also
1779 discouraged in favor of :func:`importlib.import_module`.
Georg Brandl48367812008-12-05 15:55:41 +00001780
Benjamin Peterson6ebe78f2008-12-21 00:06:59 +00001781 The function imports the module *name*, potentially using the given *globals*
1782 and *locals* to determine how to interpret the name in a package context.
1783 The *fromlist* gives the names of objects or submodules that should be
1784 imported from the module given by *name*. The standard implementation does
1785 not use its *locals* argument at all, and uses its *globals* only to
1786 determine the package context of the :keyword:`import` statement.
1787
Brett Cannon2b9fd472009-03-15 02:18:41 +00001788 *level* specifies whether to use absolute or relative imports. ``0`` (the
1789 default) means only perform absolute imports. Positive values for
Benjamin Peterson6ebe78f2008-12-21 00:06:59 +00001790 *level* indicate the number of parent directories to search relative to the
Brett Cannon2a082ad2012-04-14 21:58:33 -04001791 directory of the module calling :func:`__import__` (see :pep:`328` for the
1792 details).
Georg Brandl48367812008-12-05 15:55:41 +00001793
1794 When the *name* variable is of the form ``package.module``, normally, the
1795 top-level package (the name up till the first dot) is returned, *not* the
1796 module named by *name*. However, when a non-empty *fromlist* argument is
Benjamin Peterson6ebe78f2008-12-21 00:06:59 +00001797 given, the module named by *name* is returned.
Georg Brandl48367812008-12-05 15:55:41 +00001798
Benjamin Peterson6ebe78f2008-12-21 00:06:59 +00001799 For example, the statement ``import spam`` results in bytecode resembling the
1800 following code::
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +00001801
Brett Cannon2b9fd472009-03-15 02:18:41 +00001802 spam = __import__('spam', globals(), locals(), [], 0)
Georg Brandl48367812008-12-05 15:55:41 +00001803
Benjamin Peterson6ebe78f2008-12-21 00:06:59 +00001804 The statement ``import spam.ham`` results in this call::
Georg Brandl48367812008-12-05 15:55:41 +00001805
Brett Cannon2b9fd472009-03-15 02:18:41 +00001806 spam = __import__('spam.ham', globals(), locals(), [], 0)
Benjamin Peterson6ebe78f2008-12-21 00:06:59 +00001807
1808 Note how :func:`__import__` returns the toplevel module here because this is
1809 the object that is bound to a name by the :keyword:`import` statement.
1810
1811 On the other hand, the statement ``from spam.ham import eggs, sausage as
1812 saus`` results in ::
1813
Brett Cannon2b9fd472009-03-15 02:18:41 +00001814 _temp = __import__('spam.ham', globals(), locals(), ['eggs', 'sausage'], 0)
Benjamin Peterson6ebe78f2008-12-21 00:06:59 +00001815 eggs = _temp.eggs
1816 saus = _temp.sausage
1817
1818 Here, the ``spam.ham`` module is returned from :func:`__import__`. From this
1819 object, the names to import are retrieved and assigned to their respective
1820 names.
1821
1822 If you simply want to import a module (potentially within a package) by name,
Éric Araujoe801aa22011-07-29 17:50:58 +02001823 use :func:`importlib.import_module`.
Benjamin Peterson6ebe78f2008-12-21 00:06:59 +00001824
Brett Cannon73df3642012-07-30 18:35:17 -04001825 .. versionchanged:: 3.3
Brett Cannon222d4732012-08-05 20:49:53 -04001826 Negative values for *level* are no longer supported (which also changes
1827 the default value to 0).
Brett Cannon73df3642012-07-30 18:35:17 -04001828
Georg Brandl48367812008-12-05 15:55:41 +00001829
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001830.. rubric:: Footnotes
1831
Georg Brandl47f27a32009-03-31 16:57:13 +00001832.. [#] Note that the parser only accepts the Unix-style end of line convention.
1833 If you are reading the code from a file, make sure to use newline conversion
1834 mode to convert Windows or Mac-style newlines.