blob: c225f3dee9215faead323c794d91e3f8d08192f8 [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,
Andre Delfino548cb602019-03-25 19:53:43 -0300225 see :func:`staticmethod`.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000226
Andre Delfino548cb602019-03-25 19:53:43 -0300227 For more information on class methods, see :ref:`types`.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000228
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000229
Georg Brandl8334fd92010-12-04 10:26:46 +0000230.. function:: compile(source, filename, mode, flags=0, dont_inherit=False, optimize=-1)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000231
Benjamin Petersonec9199b2008-11-08 17:05:00 +0000232 Compile the *source* into a code or AST object. Code objects can be executed
Benjamin Peterson933142a2013-12-06 20:12:39 -0500233 by :func:`exec` or :func:`eval`. *source* can either be a normal string, a
234 byte string, or an AST object. Refer to the :mod:`ast` module documentation
235 for information on how to work with AST objects.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000236
Benjamin Petersonec9199b2008-11-08 17:05:00 +0000237 The *filename* argument should give the file from which the code was read;
238 pass some recognizable value if it wasn't read from a file (``'<string>'`` is
239 commonly used).
240
241 The *mode* argument specifies what kind of code must be compiled; it can be
242 ``'exec'`` if *source* consists of a sequence of statements, ``'eval'`` if it
243 consists of a single expression, or ``'single'`` if it consists of a single
244 interactive statement (in the latter case, expression statements that
R. David Murray66011262009-06-25 17:37:57 +0000245 evaluate to something other than ``None`` will be printed).
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000246
Andrés Delfino33aefad2018-07-11 06:44:06 -0300247 The optional arguments *flags* and *dont_inherit* control which :ref:`future
248 statements <future>` affect the compilation of *source*. If neither
Georg Brandle06de8b2008-05-05 21:42:51 +0000249 is present (or both are zero) the code is compiled with those future
Georg Brandle4196d32014-10-31 09:41:46 +0100250 statements that are in effect in the code that is calling :func:`compile`. If the
Georg Brandle06de8b2008-05-05 21:42:51 +0000251 *flags* argument is given and *dont_inherit* is not (or is zero) then the
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000252 future statements specified by the *flags* argument are used in addition to
253 those that would be used anyway. If *dont_inherit* is a non-zero integer then
Georg Brandle06de8b2008-05-05 21:42:51 +0000254 the *flags* argument is it -- the future statements in effect around the call
255 to compile are ignored.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000256
Christian Heimesfaf2f632008-01-06 16:59:19 +0000257 Future statements are specified by bits which can be bitwise ORed together to
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000258 specify multiple statements. The bitfield required to specify a given feature
Serhiy Storchaka0d196ed2013-10-09 14:02:31 +0300259 can be found as the :attr:`~__future__._Feature.compiler_flag` attribute on
260 the :class:`~__future__._Feature` instance in the :mod:`__future__` module.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000261
Matthias Bussonnier565b4f12019-05-21 13:12:03 -0700262 The optional argument *flags* also controls whether the compiled source is
263 allowed to contain top-level ``await``, ``async for`` and ``async with``.
264 When the bit ``ast.PyCF_ALLOW_TOP_LEVEL_AWAIT`` is set, the return code
265 object has ``CO_COROUTINE`` set in ``co_code``, and can be interactively
266 executed via ``await eval(code_object)``.
267
Georg Brandl8334fd92010-12-04 10:26:46 +0000268 The argument *optimize* specifies the optimization level of the compiler; the
269 default value of ``-1`` selects the optimization level of the interpreter as
270 given by :option:`-O` options. Explicit levels are ``0`` (no optimization;
271 ``__debug__`` is true), ``1`` (asserts are removed, ``__debug__`` is false)
272 or ``2`` (docstrings are removed too).
273
Christian Heimes7f044312008-01-06 17:05:40 +0000274 This function raises :exc:`SyntaxError` if the compiled source is invalid,
Berker Peksag0334c3c2016-02-21 22:00:12 +0200275 and :exc:`ValueError` if the source contains null bytes.
Christian Heimes7f044312008-01-06 17:05:40 +0000276
Georg Brandle4196d32014-10-31 09:41:46 +0100277 If you want to parse Python code into its AST representation, see
278 :func:`ast.parse`.
279
Steve Dower44f91c32019-06-27 10:47:59 -0700280 .. audit-event:: compile source,filename compile
Steve Dowerb82e17e2019-05-23 08:45:22 -0700281
Steve Dower60419a72019-06-24 08:42:54 -0700282 Raises an :ref:`auditing event <auditing>` ``compile`` with arguments
Steve Dowerb82e17e2019-05-23 08:45:22 -0700283 ``source`` and ``filename``. This event may also be raised by implicit
284 compilation.
285
Benjamin Petersonec9199b2008-11-08 17:05:00 +0000286 .. note::
287
Benjamin Peterson20211002009-11-25 18:34:42 +0000288 When compiling a string with multi-line code in ``'single'`` or
Benjamin Petersonaeaa5922009-11-13 00:17:59 +0000289 ``'eval'`` mode, input must be terminated by at least one newline
290 character. This is to facilitate detection of incomplete and complete
291 statements in the :mod:`code` module.
292
Brett Cannonf7a6ff62018-03-09 13:13:32 -0800293 .. warning::
294
295 It is possible to crash the Python interpreter with a
296 sufficiently large/complex string when compiling to an AST
297 object due to stack depth limitations in Python's AST compiler.
298
Benjamin Petersonaeaa5922009-11-13 00:17:59 +0000299 .. versionchanged:: 3.2
300 Allowed use of Windows and Mac newlines. Also input in ``'exec'`` mode
Georg Brandl8334fd92010-12-04 10:26:46 +0000301 does not have to end in a newline anymore. Added the *optimize* parameter.
Benjamin Petersonec9199b2008-11-08 17:05:00 +0000302
Berker Peksag0334c3c2016-02-21 22:00:12 +0200303 .. versionchanged:: 3.5
304 Previously, :exc:`TypeError` was raised when null bytes were encountered
305 in *source*.
306
Matthias Bussonnier565b4f12019-05-21 13:12:03 -0700307 .. versionadded:: 3.8
308 ``ast.PyCF_ALLOW_TOP_LEVEL_AWAIT`` can now be passed in flags to enable
309 support for top-level ``await``, ``async for``, and ``async with``.
310
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000311
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200312.. class:: complex([real[, imag]])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000313
Terry Jan Reedy43cba212015-05-23 16:16:28 -0400314 Return a complex number with the value *real* + *imag*\*1j or convert a string
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200315 or number to a complex number. If the first parameter is a string, it will
316 be interpreted as a complex number and the function must be called without a
317 second parameter. The second parameter can never be a string. Each argument
318 may be any numeric type (including complex). If *imag* is omitted, it
319 defaults to zero and the constructor serves as a numeric conversion like
320 :class:`int` and :class:`float`. If both arguments are omitted, returns
321 ``0j``.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000322
Serhiy Storchakabdbad712019-06-02 00:05:48 +0300323 For a general Python object ``x``, ``complex(x)`` delegates to
324 ``x.__complex__()``. If ``__complex__()`` is not defined then it falls back
325 to :meth:`__float__`. If ``__float__()`` is not defined then it falls back
326 to :meth:`__index__`.
327
Mark Dickinson328dd0d2012-03-10 16:09:35 +0000328 .. note::
329
330 When converting from a string, the string must not contain whitespace
331 around the central ``+`` or ``-`` operator. For example,
332 ``complex('1+2j')`` is fine, but ``complex('1 + 2j')`` raises
333 :exc:`ValueError`.
334
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000335 The complex type is described in :ref:`typesnumeric`.
336
Brett Cannona721aba2016-09-09 14:57:09 -0700337 .. versionchanged:: 3.6
338 Grouping digits with underscores as in code literals is allowed.
339
Serhiy Storchakabdbad712019-06-02 00:05:48 +0300340 .. versionchanged:: 3.8
341 Falls back to :meth:`__index__` if :meth:`__complex__` and
342 :meth:`__float__` are not defined.
343
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000344
345.. function:: delattr(object, name)
346
347 This is a relative of :func:`setattr`. The arguments are an object and a
348 string. The string must be the name of one of the object's attributes. The
349 function deletes the named attribute, provided the object allows it. For
350 example, ``delattr(x, 'foobar')`` is equivalent to ``del x.foobar``.
351
352
Éric Araujo9edd9f02011-09-01 23:08:55 +0200353.. _func-dict:
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200354.. class:: dict(**kwarg)
355 dict(mapping, **kwarg)
356 dict(iterable, **kwarg)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000357 :noindex:
358
Chris Jerdonekf3413172012-10-13 03:22:33 -0700359 Create a new dictionary. The :class:`dict` object is the dictionary class.
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200360 See :class:`dict` and :ref:`typesmapping` for documentation about this class.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000361
Chris Jerdonekf3413172012-10-13 03:22:33 -0700362 For other containers see the built-in :class:`list`, :class:`set`, and
363 :class:`tuple` classes, as well as the :mod:`collections` module.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000364
365
366.. function:: dir([object])
367
368 Without arguments, return the list of names in the current local scope. With an
369 argument, attempt to return a list of valid attributes for that object.
370
371 If the object has a method named :meth:`__dir__`, this method will be called and
372 must return the list of attributes. This allows objects that implement a custom
373 :func:`__getattr__` or :func:`__getattribute__` function to customize the way
374 :func:`dir` reports their attributes.
375
376 If the object does not provide :meth:`__dir__`, the function tries its best to
Martin Panterbae5d812016-06-18 03:57:31 +0000377 gather information from the object's :attr:`~object.__dict__` attribute, if defined, and
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000378 from its type object. The resulting list is not necessarily complete, and may
379 be inaccurate when the object has a custom :func:`__getattr__`.
380
381 The default :func:`dir` mechanism behaves differently with different types of
382 objects, as it attempts to produce the most relevant, rather than complete,
383 information:
384
385 * If the object is a module object, the list contains the names of the module's
386 attributes.
387
388 * If the object is a type or class object, the list contains the names of its
389 attributes, and recursively of the attributes of its bases.
390
391 * Otherwise, the list contains the object's attributes' names, the names of its
392 class's attributes, and recursively of the attributes of its class's base
393 classes.
394
Christian Heimesfe337bf2008-03-23 21:54:12 +0000395 The resulting list is sorted alphabetically. For example:
396
397 >>> import struct
Marco Buttue65fcde2017-04-27 14:23:34 +0200398 >>> dir() # show the names in the module namespace # doctest: +SKIP
Andrew Svetlov439e17f2012-08-12 15:16:42 +0300399 ['__builtins__', '__name__', 'struct']
400 >>> dir(struct) # show the names in the struct module # doctest: +SKIP
401 ['Struct', '__all__', '__builtins__', '__cached__', '__doc__', '__file__',
402 '__initializing__', '__loader__', '__name__', '__package__',
403 '_clearcache', 'calcsize', 'error', 'pack', 'pack_into',
Christian Heimesfe337bf2008-03-23 21:54:12 +0000404 'unpack', 'unpack_from']
Ezio Melottiaf8838f2013-03-11 09:30:21 +0200405 >>> class Shape:
Andrew Svetlov439e17f2012-08-12 15:16:42 +0300406 ... def __dir__(self):
407 ... return ['area', 'perimeter', 'location']
Raymond Hettinger90289282011-06-01 16:17:23 -0700408 >>> s = Shape()
409 >>> dir(s)
Andrew Svetlov439e17f2012-08-12 15:16:42 +0300410 ['area', 'location', 'perimeter']
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000411
412 .. note::
413
414 Because :func:`dir` is supplied primarily as a convenience for use at an
Georg Brandl036490d2009-05-17 13:00:36 +0000415 interactive prompt, it tries to supply an interesting set of names more
416 than it tries to supply a rigorously or consistently defined set of names,
417 and its detailed behavior may change across releases. For example,
418 metaclass attributes are not in the result list when the argument is a
419 class.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000420
421
422.. function:: divmod(a, b)
423
424 Take two (non complex) numbers as arguments and return a pair of numbers
Georg Brandl036490d2009-05-17 13:00:36 +0000425 consisting of their quotient and remainder when using integer division. With
426 mixed operand types, the rules for binary arithmetic operators apply. For
427 integers, the result is the same as ``(a // b, a % b)``. For floating point
428 numbers the result is ``(q, a % b)``, where *q* is usually ``math.floor(a /
429 b)`` but may be 1 less than that. In any case ``q * b + a % b`` is very
430 close to *a*, if ``a % b`` is non-zero it has the same sign as *b*, and ``0
431 <= abs(a % b) < abs(b)``.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000432
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000433
Georg Brandl036490d2009-05-17 13:00:36 +0000434.. function:: enumerate(iterable, start=0)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000435
Georg Brandld11ae5d2008-05-16 13:27:32 +0000436 Return an enumerate object. *iterable* must be a sequence, an
Ezio Melotti7fa82222012-10-12 13:42:08 +0300437 :term:`iterator`, or some other object which supports iteration.
438 The :meth:`~iterator.__next__` method of the iterator returned by
439 :func:`enumerate` returns a tuple containing a count (from *start* which
440 defaults to 0) and the values obtained from iterating over *iterable*.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000441
Raymond Hettinger9d3df6d2011-06-25 15:00:14 +0200442 >>> seasons = ['Spring', 'Summer', 'Fall', 'Winter']
443 >>> list(enumerate(seasons))
444 [(0, 'Spring'), (1, 'Summer'), (2, 'Fall'), (3, 'Winter')]
445 >>> list(enumerate(seasons, start=1))
446 [(1, 'Spring'), (2, 'Summer'), (3, 'Fall'), (4, 'Winter')]
Raymond Hettinger90289282011-06-01 16:17:23 -0700447
448 Equivalent to::
449
450 def enumerate(sequence, start=0):
451 n = start
452 for elem in sequence:
453 yield n, elem
454 n += 1
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000455
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000456
Georg Brandl036490d2009-05-17 13:00:36 +0000457.. function:: eval(expression, globals=None, locals=None)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000458
459 The arguments are a string and optional globals and locals. If provided,
460 *globals* must be a dictionary. If provided, *locals* can be any mapping
461 object.
462
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000463 The *expression* argument is parsed and evaluated as a Python expression
464 (technically speaking, a condition list) using the *globals* and *locals*
Georg Brandl9afde1c2007-11-01 20:32:30 +0000465 dictionaries as global and local namespace. If the *globals* dictionary is
Berker Peksag225b0552018-08-19 13:25:33 +0300466 present and does not contain a value for the key ``__builtins__``, a
467 reference to the dictionary of the built-in module :mod:`builtins` is
Raymond Hettinger610a4822019-08-06 17:56:22 -0700468 inserted under that key before *expression* is parsed. This means that
469 *expression* normally has full access to the standard :mod:`builtins`
470 module and restricted environments are propagated. If the *locals*
471 dictionary is omitted it defaults to the *globals* dictionary. If both
472 dictionaries are omitted, the expression is executed with the *globals* and
473 *locals* in the environment where :func:`eval` is called. Note, *eval()*
474 does not have access to the :term:`nested scope`\s (non-locals) in the
475 enclosing environment.
476
477 The return value is the result of
Christian Heimesfe337bf2008-03-23 21:54:12 +0000478 the evaluated expression. Syntax errors are reported as exceptions. Example:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000479
480 >>> x = 1
Georg Brandl6911e3c2007-09-04 07:15:32 +0000481 >>> eval('x+1')
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000482 2
483
Benjamin Peterson3e4f0552008-09-02 00:31:15 +0000484 This function can also be used to execute arbitrary code objects (such as
485 those created by :func:`compile`). In this case pass a code object instead
486 of a string. If the code object has been compiled with ``'exec'`` as the
Georg Brandl1f70cdf2010-03-21 09:04:24 +0000487 *mode* argument, :func:`eval`\'s return value will be ``None``.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000488
489 Hints: dynamic execution of statements is supported by the :func:`exec`
490 function. The :func:`globals` and :func:`locals` functions
491 returns the current global and local dictionary, respectively, which may be
492 useful to pass around for use by :func:`eval` or :func:`exec`.
493
Georg Brandl05bfcc52010-07-11 09:42:10 +0000494 See :func:`ast.literal_eval` for a function that can safely evaluate strings
495 with expressions containing only literals.
496
Steve Dower44f91c32019-06-27 10:47:59 -0700497 .. audit-event:: exec code_object eval
Steve Dowerb82e17e2019-05-23 08:45:22 -0700498
Steve Dower60419a72019-06-24 08:42:54 -0700499 Raises an :ref:`auditing event <auditing>` ``exec`` with the code object
500 as the argument. Code compilation events may also be raised.
Steve Dowerb82e17e2019-05-23 08:45:22 -0700501
Berker Peksag3410af42014-07-04 15:06:45 +0300502.. index:: builtin: exec
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000503
504.. function:: exec(object[, globals[, locals]])
505
Benjamin Petersond3013ff2008-11-11 21:43:42 +0000506 This function supports dynamic execution of Python code. *object* must be
507 either a string or a code object. If it is a string, the string is parsed as
508 a suite of Python statements which is then executed (unless a syntax error
Georg Brandl47f27a32009-03-31 16:57:13 +0000509 occurs). [#]_ If it is a code object, it is simply executed. In all cases,
510 the code that's executed is expected to be valid as file input (see the
511 section "File input" in the Reference Manual). Be aware that the
512 :keyword:`return` and :keyword:`yield` statements may not be used outside of
513 function definitions even within the context of code passed to the
514 :func:`exec` function. The return value is ``None``.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000515
516 In all cases, if the optional parts are omitted, the code is executed in the
Anthony Shaw059b9ea2019-06-02 01:51:58 +1000517 current scope. If only *globals* is provided, it must be a dictionary
518 (and not a subclass of dictionary), which
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000519 will be used for both the global and the local variables. If *globals* and
520 *locals* are given, they are used for the global and local variables,
Terry Jan Reedy83efd6c2012-07-08 17:36:14 -0400521 respectively. If provided, *locals* can be any mapping object. Remember
522 that at module level, globals and locals are the same dictionary. If exec
523 gets two separate objects as *globals* and *locals*, the code will be
524 executed as if it were embedded in a class definition.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000525
526 If the *globals* dictionary does not contain a value for the key
527 ``__builtins__``, a reference to the dictionary of the built-in module
Georg Brandl1a3284e2007-12-02 09:40:06 +0000528 :mod:`builtins` is inserted under that key. That way you can control what
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000529 builtins are available to the executed code by inserting your own
530 ``__builtins__`` dictionary into *globals* before passing it to :func:`exec`.
531
Steve Dower44f91c32019-06-27 10:47:59 -0700532 .. audit-event:: exec code_object exec
Steve Dowerb82e17e2019-05-23 08:45:22 -0700533
Steve Dower60419a72019-06-24 08:42:54 -0700534 Raises an :ref:`auditing event <auditing>` ``exec`` with the code object
535 as the argument. Code compilation events may also be raised.
Steve Dowerb82e17e2019-05-23 08:45:22 -0700536
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000537 .. note::
538
539 The built-in functions :func:`globals` and :func:`locals` return the current
540 global and local dictionary, respectively, which may be useful to pass around
541 for use as the second and third argument to :func:`exec`.
542
Georg Brandle720c0a2009-04-27 16:20:50 +0000543 .. note::
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000544
545 The default *locals* act as described for function :func:`locals` below:
Georg Brandlf6945182008-02-01 11:56:49 +0000546 modifications to the default *locals* dictionary should not be attempted.
547 Pass an explicit *locals* dictionary if you need to see effects of the
548 code on *locals* after function :func:`exec` returns.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000549
550
551.. function:: filter(function, iterable)
552
Georg Brandl952aea22007-09-04 17:50:40 +0000553 Construct an iterator from those elements of *iterable* for which *function*
554 returns true. *iterable* may be either a sequence, a container which
Georg Brandl9afde1c2007-11-01 20:32:30 +0000555 supports iteration, or an iterator. If *function* is ``None``, the identity
556 function is assumed, that is, all elements of *iterable* that are false are
557 removed.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000558
Georg Brandl952aea22007-09-04 17:50:40 +0000559 Note that ``filter(function, iterable)`` is equivalent to the generator
560 expression ``(item for item in iterable if function(item))`` if function is
561 not ``None`` and ``(item for item in iterable if item)`` if function is
562 ``None``.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000563
Raymond Hettingercdf8ba32009-02-19 04:45:07 +0000564 See :func:`itertools.filterfalse` for the complementary function that returns
565 elements of *iterable* for which *function* returns false.
566
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000567
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200568.. class:: float([x])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000569
Mark Dickinson47c74ac2010-11-21 21:09:58 +0000570 .. index::
571 single: NaN
572 single: Infinity
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000573
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200574 Return a floating point number constructed from a number or string *x*.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000575
Mark Dickinson47c74ac2010-11-21 21:09:58 +0000576 If the argument is a string, it should contain a decimal number, optionally
577 preceded by a sign, and optionally embedded in whitespace. The optional
578 sign may be ``'+'`` or ``'-'``; a ``'+'`` sign has no effect on the value
579 produced. The argument may also be a string representing a NaN
580 (not-a-number), or a positive or negative infinity. More precisely, the
581 input must conform to the following grammar after leading and trailing
582 whitespace characters are removed:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000583
Mark Dickinson47c74ac2010-11-21 21:09:58 +0000584 .. productionlist::
585 sign: "+" | "-"
586 infinity: "Infinity" | "inf"
587 nan: "nan"
Georg Brandl46402372010-12-04 19:06:18 +0000588 numeric_value: `floatnumber` | `infinity` | `nan`
589 numeric_string: [`sign`] `numeric_value`
Mark Dickinson47c74ac2010-11-21 21:09:58 +0000590
591 Here ``floatnumber`` is the form of a Python floating-point literal,
592 described in :ref:`floating`. Case is not significant, so, for example,
593 "inf", "Inf", "INFINITY" and "iNfINity" are all acceptable spellings for
594 positive infinity.
595
596 Otherwise, if the argument is an integer or a floating point number, a
597 floating point number with the same value (within Python's floating point
598 precision) is returned. If the argument is outside the range of a Python
599 float, an :exc:`OverflowError` will be raised.
600
601 For a general Python object ``x``, ``float(x)`` delegates to
Serhiy Storchakabdbad712019-06-02 00:05:48 +0300602 ``x.__float__()``. If ``__float__()`` is not defined then it falls back
603 to :meth:`__index__`.
Mark Dickinson47c74ac2010-11-21 21:09:58 +0000604
605 If no argument is given, ``0.0`` is returned.
606
607 Examples::
608
609 >>> float('+1.23')
610 1.23
611 >>> float(' -12345\n')
612 -12345.0
613 >>> float('1e-003')
614 0.001
615 >>> float('+1E6')
616 1000000.0
617 >>> float('-Infinity')
618 -inf
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000619
620 The float type is described in :ref:`typesnumeric`.
621
Brett Cannona721aba2016-09-09 14:57:09 -0700622 .. versionchanged:: 3.6
623 Grouping digits with underscores as in code literals is allowed.
Chris Jerdonekbb4e9412012-11-28 01:38:40 -0800624
Louis Sautier3fe89da2018-08-27 12:45:26 +0200625 .. versionchanged:: 3.7
626 *x* is now a positional-only parameter.
627
Serhiy Storchakabdbad712019-06-02 00:05:48 +0300628 .. versionchanged:: 3.8
629 Falls back to :meth:`__index__` if :meth:`__float__` is not defined.
630
Éric Araujo9edd9f02011-09-01 23:08:55 +0200631
Brett Cannona721aba2016-09-09 14:57:09 -0700632.. index::
633 single: __format__
634 single: string; format() (built-in function)
635
Georg Brandl4b491312007-08-31 09:22:56 +0000636.. function:: format(value[, format_spec])
637
Georg Brandl5579ba92009-02-23 10:24:05 +0000638 Convert a *value* to a "formatted" representation, as controlled by
639 *format_spec*. The interpretation of *format_spec* will depend on the type
640 of the *value* argument, however there is a standard formatting syntax that
641 is used by most built-in types: :ref:`formatspec`.
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +0000642
Raymond Hettinger30439b22011-05-11 10:47:27 -0700643 The default *format_spec* is an empty string which usually gives the same
Chris Jerdonek5fae0e52012-11-20 17:45:51 -0800644 effect as calling :func:`str(value) <str>`.
Georg Brandl4b491312007-08-31 09:22:56 +0000645
Raymond Hettinger30439b22011-05-11 10:47:27 -0700646 A call to ``format(value, format_spec)`` is translated to
Georg Brandle4196d32014-10-31 09:41:46 +0100647 ``type(value).__format__(value, format_spec)`` which bypasses the instance
Raymond Hettinger30439b22011-05-11 10:47:27 -0700648 dictionary when searching for the value's :meth:`__format__` method. A
Larry Hastings3732ed22014-03-15 21:13:56 -0700649 :exc:`TypeError` exception is raised if the method search reaches
650 :mod:`object` and the *format_spec* is non-empty, or if either the
651 *format_spec* or the return value are not strings.
Georg Brandl4b491312007-08-31 09:22:56 +0000652
Larry Hastings3732ed22014-03-15 21:13:56 -0700653 .. versionchanged:: 3.4
Andrew Svetlov0794fe02012-12-23 15:12:19 +0200654 ``object().__format__(format_spec)`` raises :exc:`TypeError`
Larry Hastings3732ed22014-03-15 21:13:56 -0700655 if *format_spec* is not an empty string.
Andrew Svetlov0794fe02012-12-23 15:12:19 +0200656
Éric Araujo9edd9f02011-09-01 23:08:55 +0200657
658.. _func-frozenset:
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200659.. class:: frozenset([iterable])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000660 :noindex:
661
Chris Jerdonekdf3abec2012-11-09 18:57:32 -0800662 Return a new :class:`frozenset` object, optionally with elements taken from
663 *iterable*. ``frozenset`` is a built-in class. See :class:`frozenset` and
664 :ref:`types-set` for documentation about this class.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000665
Chris Jerdonekdf3abec2012-11-09 18:57:32 -0800666 For other containers see the built-in :class:`set`, :class:`list`,
667 :class:`tuple`, and :class:`dict` classes, as well as the :mod:`collections`
668 module.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000669
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000670
671.. function:: getattr(object, name[, default])
672
Georg Brandl8e4ddcf2010-10-16 18:51:05 +0000673 Return the value of the named attribute of *object*. *name* must be a string.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000674 If the string is the name of one of the object's attributes, the result is the
675 value of that attribute. For example, ``getattr(x, 'foobar')`` is equivalent to
676 ``x.foobar``. If the named attribute does not exist, *default* is returned if
677 provided, otherwise :exc:`AttributeError` is raised.
678
679
680.. function:: globals()
681
682 Return a dictionary representing the current global symbol table. This is always
683 the dictionary of the current module (inside a function or method, this is the
684 module where it is defined, not the module from which it is called).
685
686
687.. function:: hasattr(object, name)
688
Benjamin Peterson17689992010-08-24 03:26:23 +0000689 The arguments are an object and a string. The result is ``True`` if the
690 string is the name of one of the object's attributes, ``False`` if not. (This
691 is implemented by calling ``getattr(object, name)`` and seeing whether it
692 raises an :exc:`AttributeError` or not.)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000693
694
695.. function:: hash(object)
696
Barry Warsaw224a5992013-07-15 14:47:29 -0400697 Return the hash value of the object (if it has one). Hash values are
698 integers. They are used to quickly compare dictionary keys during a
699 dictionary lookup. Numeric values that compare equal have the same hash
700 value (even if they are of different types, as is the case for 1 and 1.0).
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000701
Andrés Delfinobda9c3e2018-06-29 06:57:10 -0300702 .. note::
Barry Warsaw224a5992013-07-15 14:47:29 -0400703
Andrés Delfinobda9c3e2018-06-29 06:57:10 -0300704 For objects with custom :meth:`__hash__` methods, note that :func:`hash`
705 truncates the return value based on the bit width of the host machine.
706 See :meth:`__hash__` for details.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000707
708.. function:: help([object])
709
710 Invoke the built-in help system. (This function is intended for interactive
711 use.) If no argument is given, the interactive help system starts on the
712 interpreter console. If the argument is a string, then the string is looked up
713 as the name of a module, function, class, method, keyword, or documentation
714 topic, and a help page is printed on the console. If the argument is any other
715 kind of object, a help page on the object is generated.
716
Lysandros Nikolaou1aeeaeb2019-03-10 12:30:11 +0100717 Note that if a slash(/) appears in the parameter list of a function, when
718 invoking :func:`help`, it means that the parameters prior to the slash are
719 positional-only. For more info, see
720 :ref:`the FAQ entry on positional-only parameters <faq-positional-only-arguments>`.
721
Christian Heimes9bd667a2008-01-20 15:14:11 +0000722 This function is added to the built-in namespace by the :mod:`site` module.
723
Larry Hastings3732ed22014-03-15 21:13:56 -0700724 .. versionchanged:: 3.4
725 Changes to :mod:`pydoc` and :mod:`inspect` mean that the reported
726 signatures for callables are now more comprehensive and consistent.
727
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000728
729.. function:: hex(x)
730
Manvisha Kodali67ba4fa2017-07-06 22:30:58 +0300731 Convert an integer number to a lowercase hexadecimal string prefixed with
Serhiy Storchakadf00f042018-05-10 16:38:44 +0300732 "0x". If *x* is not a Python :class:`int` object, it has to define an
733 :meth:`__index__` method that returns an integer. Some examples:
Larry Hastings3732ed22014-03-15 21:13:56 -0700734
735 >>> hex(255)
736 '0xff'
737 >>> hex(-42)
738 '-0x2a'
739
Manvisha Kodali67ba4fa2017-07-06 22:30:58 +0300740 If you want to convert an integer number to an uppercase or lower hexadecimal
741 string with prefix or not, you can use either of the following ways:
742
743 >>> '%#x' % 255, '%x' % 255, '%X' % 255
744 ('0xff', 'ff', 'FF')
745 >>> format(255, '#x'), format(255, 'x'), format(255, 'X')
746 ('0xff', 'ff', 'FF')
747 >>> f'{255:#x}', f'{255:x}', f'{255:X}'
748 ('0xff', 'ff', 'FF')
749
750 See also :func:`format` for more information.
Larry Hastings3732ed22014-03-15 21:13:56 -0700751
752 See also :func:`int` for converting a hexadecimal string to an
753 integer using a base of 16.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000754
Mark Dickinson36cea392009-10-03 10:18:40 +0000755 .. note::
756
757 To obtain a hexadecimal string representation for a float, use the
758 :meth:`float.hex` method.
759
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000760
761.. function:: id(object)
762
Georg Brandlba956ae2007-11-29 17:24:34 +0000763 Return the "identity" of an object. This is an integer which
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000764 is guaranteed to be unique and constant for this object during its lifetime.
Georg Brandl495f7b52009-10-27 15:28:25 +0000765 Two objects with non-overlapping lifetimes may have the same :func:`id`
766 value.
767
Éric Araujof33de712011-05-27 04:42:47 +0200768 .. impl-detail:: This is the address of the object in memory.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000769
770
Georg Brandlc0902982007-09-12 21:29:27 +0000771.. function:: input([prompt])
772
773 If the *prompt* argument is present, it is written to standard output without
774 a trailing newline. The function then reads a line from input, converts it
775 to a string (stripping a trailing newline), and returns that. When EOF is
776 read, :exc:`EOFError` is raised. Example::
777
Andrew Svetlov439e17f2012-08-12 15:16:42 +0300778 >>> s = input('--> ') # doctest: +SKIP
Georg Brandlc0902982007-09-12 21:29:27 +0000779 --> Monty Python's Flying Circus
Andrew Svetlov439e17f2012-08-12 15:16:42 +0300780 >>> s # doctest: +SKIP
Georg Brandlc0902982007-09-12 21:29:27 +0000781 "Monty Python's Flying Circus"
782
Georg Brandl7b469422007-09-12 21:32:27 +0000783 If the :mod:`readline` module was loaded, then :func:`input` will use it
Georg Brandlc0902982007-09-12 21:29:27 +0000784 to provide elaborate line editing and history features.
785
Steve Dower44f91c32019-06-27 10:47:59 -0700786 .. audit-event:: builtins.input prompt input
Steve Dowerb82e17e2019-05-23 08:45:22 -0700787
Steve Dower60419a72019-06-24 08:42:54 -0700788 Raises an :ref:`auditing event <auditing>` ``builtins.input`` with
Steve Dowerb82e17e2019-05-23 08:45:22 -0700789 argument ``prompt`` before reading input
790
Steve Dower44f91c32019-06-27 10:47:59 -0700791 .. audit-event:: builtins.input/result result input
Steve Dowerb82e17e2019-05-23 08:45:22 -0700792
793 Raises an auditing event ``builtins.input/result`` with the result after
794 successfully reading input.
795
Georg Brandlc0902982007-09-12 21:29:27 +0000796
Louis Sautier3fe89da2018-08-27 12:45:26 +0200797.. class:: int([x])
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200798 int(x, base=10)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000799
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200800 Return an integer object constructed from a number or string *x*, or return
Serhiy Storchakadf00f042018-05-10 16:38:44 +0300801 ``0`` if no arguments are given. If *x* defines :meth:`__int__`,
Serhiy Storchakabdbad712019-06-02 00:05:48 +0300802 ``int(x)`` returns ``x.__int__()``. If *x* defines :meth:`__index__`,
803 it returns ``x.__index__()``. If *x* defines :meth:`__trunc__`,
Serhiy Storchakadf00f042018-05-10 16:38:44 +0300804 it returns ``x.__trunc__()``.
805 For floating point numbers, this truncates towards zero.
Chris Jerdonek57491e02012-09-28 00:10:44 -0700806
807 If *x* is not a number or if *base* is given, then *x* must be a string,
808 :class:`bytes`, or :class:`bytearray` instance representing an :ref:`integer
809 literal <integers>` in radix *base*. Optionally, the literal can be
810 preceded by ``+`` or ``-`` (with no space in between) and surrounded by
811 whitespace. A base-n literal consists of the digits 0 to n-1, with ``a``
812 to ``z`` (or ``A`` to ``Z``) having
Serhiy Storchakac7b1a0b2016-11-26 13:43:28 +0200813 values 10 to 35. The default *base* is 10. The allowed values are 0 and 2--36.
Georg Brandl225d3c82008-04-09 18:45:14 +0000814 Base-2, -8, and -16 literals can be optionally prefixed with ``0b``/``0B``,
Georg Brandl1b5ab452009-08-13 07:56:35 +0000815 ``0o``/``0O``, or ``0x``/``0X``, as with integer literals in code. Base 0
816 means to interpret exactly as a code literal, so that the actual base is 2,
Georg Brandl225d3c82008-04-09 18:45:14 +0000817 8, 10, or 16, and so that ``int('010', 0)`` is not legal, while
818 ``int('010')`` is, as well as ``int('010', 8)``.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000819
820 The integer type is described in :ref:`typesnumeric`.
821
Mark Dickinson07c71362013-01-27 10:17:52 +0000822 .. versionchanged:: 3.4
823 If *base* is not an instance of :class:`int` and the *base* object has a
824 :meth:`base.__index__ <object.__index__>` method, that method is called
825 to obtain an integer for the base. Previous versions used
826 :meth:`base.__int__ <object.__int__>` instead of :meth:`base.__index__
827 <object.__index__>`.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000828
Brett Cannona721aba2016-09-09 14:57:09 -0700829 .. versionchanged:: 3.6
830 Grouping digits with underscores as in code literals is allowed.
831
Louis Sautier3fe89da2018-08-27 12:45:26 +0200832 .. versionchanged:: 3.7
833 *x* is now a positional-only parameter.
834
Serhiy Storchakabdbad712019-06-02 00:05:48 +0300835 .. versionchanged:: 3.8
836 Falls back to :meth:`__index__` if :meth:`__int__` is not defined.
837
Brett Cannona721aba2016-09-09 14:57:09 -0700838
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000839.. function:: isinstance(object, classinfo)
840
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +0000841 Return true if the *object* argument is an instance of the *classinfo*
Éric Araujoe8b7eb02011-08-19 02:17:03 +0200842 argument, or of a (direct, indirect or :term:`virtual <abstract base
843 class>`) subclass thereof. If *object* is not
Terry Jan Reedy68b68742015-10-28 03:14:56 -0400844 an object of the given type, the function always returns false.
845 If *classinfo* is a tuple of type objects (or recursively, other such
846 tuples), return true if *object* is an instance of any of the types.
847 If *classinfo* is not a type or tuple of types and such tuples,
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +0000848 a :exc:`TypeError` exception is raised.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000849
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000850
851.. function:: issubclass(class, classinfo)
852
Éric Araujoe8b7eb02011-08-19 02:17:03 +0200853 Return true if *class* is a subclass (direct, indirect or :term:`virtual
854 <abstract base class>`) of *classinfo*. A
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000855 class is considered a subclass of itself. *classinfo* may be a tuple of class
856 objects, in which case every entry in *classinfo* will be checked. In any other
857 case, a :exc:`TypeError` exception is raised.
858
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000859
Georg Brandl036490d2009-05-17 13:00:36 +0000860.. function:: iter(object[, sentinel])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000861
Georg Brandl036490d2009-05-17 13:00:36 +0000862 Return an :term:`iterator` object. The first argument is interpreted very
863 differently depending on the presence of the second argument. Without a
864 second argument, *object* must be a collection object which supports the
865 iteration protocol (the :meth:`__iter__` method), or it must support the
866 sequence protocol (the :meth:`__getitem__` method with integer arguments
867 starting at ``0``). If it does not support either of those protocols,
868 :exc:`TypeError` is raised. If the second argument, *sentinel*, is given,
869 then *object* must be a callable object. The iterator created in this case
Ezio Melotti7fa82222012-10-12 13:42:08 +0300870 will call *object* with no arguments for each call to its
871 :meth:`~iterator.__next__` method; if the value returned is equal to
872 *sentinel*, :exc:`StopIteration` will be raised, otherwise the value will
873 be returned.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000874
Chris Jerdonek006d9072012-10-12 20:28:26 -0700875 See also :ref:`typeiter`.
876
Chris Randsd378b1f2018-12-24 06:07:17 +0100877 One useful application of the second form of :func:`iter` is to build a
878 block-reader. For example, reading fixed-width blocks from a binary
879 database file until the end of file is reached::
Benjamin Petersonf07d0022009-03-21 17:31:58 +0000880
Chris Randsd378b1f2018-12-24 06:07:17 +0100881 from functools import partial
882 with open('mydata.db', 'rb') as f:
Cristian Ciupitu11fa0e42019-02-21 09:53:06 +0200883 for block in iter(partial(f.read, 64), b''):
Chris Randsd378b1f2018-12-24 06:07:17 +0100884 process_block(block)
Benjamin Petersonf07d0022009-03-21 17:31:58 +0000885
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000886
887.. function:: len(s)
888
889 Return the length (the number of items) of an object. The argument may be a
Terry Jan Reedyf2fb73f2014-06-16 03:05:37 -0400890 sequence (such as a string, bytes, tuple, list, or range) or a collection
891 (such as a dictionary, set, or frozen set).
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000892
893
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +1000894.. _func-list:
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200895.. class:: list([iterable])
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +1000896 :noindex:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000897
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +1000898 Rather than being a function, :class:`list` is actually a mutable
Chris Jerdonek006d9072012-10-12 20:28:26 -0700899 sequence type, as documented in :ref:`typesseq-list` and :ref:`typesseq`.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000900
Georg Brandl036490d2009-05-17 13:00:36 +0000901
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000902.. function:: locals()
903
904 Update and return a dictionary representing the current local symbol table.
Benjamin Peterson4ac9ce42009-10-04 14:49:41 +0000905 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 +0530906 blocks, but not in class blocks. Note that at the module level, :func:`locals`
907 and :func:`globals` are the same dictionary.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000908
Georg Brandle720c0a2009-04-27 16:20:50 +0000909 .. note::
Georg Brandl036490d2009-05-17 13:00:36 +0000910 The contents of this dictionary should not be modified; changes may not
Benjamin Peterson4ac9ce42009-10-04 14:49:41 +0000911 affect the values of local and free variables used by the interpreter.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000912
913.. function:: map(function, iterable, ...)
914
Georg Brandl952aea22007-09-04 17:50:40 +0000915 Return an iterator that applies *function* to every item of *iterable*,
916 yielding the results. If additional *iterable* arguments are passed,
917 *function* must take that many arguments and is applied to the items from all
Georg Brandlde2b00e2008-05-05 21:04:12 +0000918 iterables in parallel. With multiple iterables, the iterator stops when the
Raymond Hettingercdf8ba32009-02-19 04:45:07 +0000919 shortest iterable is exhausted. For cases where the function inputs are
920 already arranged into argument tuples, see :func:`itertools.starmap`\.
Georg Brandlde2b00e2008-05-05 21:04:12 +0000921
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000922
Raymond Hettingerf4284e42014-04-02 00:58:47 -0700923.. function:: max(iterable, *[, key, default])
Ezio Melottie0add762012-09-14 06:32:35 +0300924 max(arg1, arg2, *args[, key])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000925
Ezio Melottie0add762012-09-14 06:32:35 +0300926 Return the largest item in an iterable or the largest of two or more
927 arguments.
928
Raymond Hettinger4d6018f2013-06-24 22:43:02 -0700929 If one positional argument is provided, it should be an :term:`iterable`.
930 The largest item in the iterable is returned. If two or more positional
Raymond Hettingerb30b34c2014-04-03 08:01:22 -0700931 arguments are provided, the largest of the positional arguments is
Raymond Hettinger4d6018f2013-06-24 22:43:02 -0700932 returned.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000933
Raymond Hettinger4d6018f2013-06-24 22:43:02 -0700934 There are two optional keyword-only arguments. The *key* argument specifies
935 a one-argument ordering function like that used for :meth:`list.sort`. The
936 *default* argument specifies an object to return if the provided iterable is
937 empty. If the iterable is empty and *default* is not provided, a
938 :exc:`ValueError` is raised.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000939
Georg Brandl682d7e02010-10-06 10:26:05 +0000940 If multiple items are maximal, the function returns the first one
941 encountered. This is consistent with other sort-stability preserving tools
942 such as ``sorted(iterable, key=keyfunc, reverse=True)[0]`` and
Raymond Hettinger476a31e2010-09-14 23:13:42 +0000943 ``heapq.nlargest(1, iterable, key=keyfunc)``.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000944
Larry Hastings3732ed22014-03-15 21:13:56 -0700945 .. versionadded:: 3.4
946 The *default* keyword-only argument.
947
Alexander Marshalove22072f2018-07-24 10:58:21 +0700948 .. versionchanged:: 3.8
949 The *key* can be ``None``.
950
Éric Araujo9edd9f02011-09-01 23:08:55 +0200951
952.. _func-memoryview:
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +0000953.. function:: memoryview(obj)
Benjamin Peterson6dfcb022008-09-10 21:02:02 +0000954 :noindex:
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +0000955
Benjamin Peterson1b25b922008-09-09 22:15:27 +0000956 Return a "memory view" object created from the given argument. See
957 :ref:`typememoryview` for more information.
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +0000958
959
Raymond Hettingerf4284e42014-04-02 00:58:47 -0700960.. function:: min(iterable, *[, key, default])
Ezio Melottie0add762012-09-14 06:32:35 +0300961 min(arg1, arg2, *args[, key])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000962
Ezio Melottie0add762012-09-14 06:32:35 +0300963 Return the smallest item in an iterable or the smallest of two or more
964 arguments.
965
Raymond Hettinger4d6018f2013-06-24 22:43:02 -0700966 If one positional argument is provided, it should be an :term:`iterable`.
967 The smallest item in the iterable is returned. If two or more positional
968 arguments are provided, the smallest of the positional arguments is
969 returned.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000970
Raymond Hettinger4d6018f2013-06-24 22:43:02 -0700971 There are two optional keyword-only arguments. The *key* argument specifies
972 a one-argument ordering function like that used for :meth:`list.sort`. The
973 *default* argument specifies an object to return if the provided iterable is
974 empty. If the iterable is empty and *default* is not provided, a
975 :exc:`ValueError` is raised.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000976
Georg Brandl682d7e02010-10-06 10:26:05 +0000977 If multiple items are minimal, the function returns the first one
978 encountered. This is consistent with other sort-stability preserving tools
979 such as ``sorted(iterable, key=keyfunc)[0]`` and ``heapq.nsmallest(1,
980 iterable, key=keyfunc)``.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000981
Larry Hastings3732ed22014-03-15 21:13:56 -0700982 .. versionadded:: 3.4
983 The *default* keyword-only argument.
984
Alexander Marshalove22072f2018-07-24 10:58:21 +0700985 .. versionchanged:: 3.8
986 The *key* can be ``None``.
987
Georg Brandldf48b972014-03-24 09:06:18 +0100988
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000989.. function:: next(iterator[, default])
990
Ezio Melotti7fa82222012-10-12 13:42:08 +0300991 Retrieve the next item from the *iterator* by calling its
992 :meth:`~iterator.__next__` method. If *default* is given, it is returned
993 if the iterator is exhausted, otherwise :exc:`StopIteration` is raised.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000994
995
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +0200996.. class:: object()
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +0000997
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +0000998 Return a new featureless object. :class:`object` is a base for all classes.
Georg Brandl55ac8f02007-09-01 13:51:09 +0000999 It has the methods that are common to all instances of Python classes. This
1000 function does not accept any arguments.
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +00001001
1002 .. note::
1003
Serhiy Storchaka0d196ed2013-10-09 14:02:31 +03001004 :class:`object` does *not* have a :attr:`~object.__dict__`, so you can't
1005 assign arbitrary attributes to an instance of the :class:`object` class.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001006
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001007
1008.. function:: oct(x)
1009
Manvisha Kodali67ba4fa2017-07-06 22:30:58 +03001010 Convert an integer number to an octal string prefixed with "0o". The result
1011 is a valid Python expression. If *x* is not a Python :class:`int` object, it
1012 has to define an :meth:`__index__` method that returns an integer. For
1013 example:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001014
Manvisha Kodali67ba4fa2017-07-06 22:30:58 +03001015 >>> oct(8)
1016 '0o10'
1017 >>> oct(-56)
1018 '-0o70'
1019
1020 If you want to convert an integer number to octal string either with prefix
1021 "0o" or not, you can use either of the following ways.
1022
1023 >>> '%#o' % 10, '%o' % 10
1024 ('0o12', '12')
1025 >>> format(10, '#o'), format(10, 'o')
1026 ('0o12', '12')
1027 >>> f'{10:#o}', f'{10:o}'
1028 ('0o12', '12')
1029
1030 See also :func:`format` for more information.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001031
R David Murray9f0c9402012-08-17 20:33:54 -04001032 .. index::
1033 single: file object; open() built-in function
1034
Ross Lagerwall59142db2011-10-31 20:34:46 +02001035.. function:: open(file, mode='r', buffering=-1, encoding=None, errors=None, newline=None, closefd=True, opener=None)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001036
R David Murray9f0c9402012-08-17 20:33:54 -04001037 Open *file* and return a corresponding :term:`file object`. If the file
R David Murray8eac5752012-08-17 20:38:19 -04001038 cannot be opened, an :exc:`OSError` is raised.
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +00001039
Brett Cannon6fa7aad2016-09-06 15:55:02 -07001040 *file* is a :term:`path-like object` giving the pathname (absolute or
1041 relative to the current working directory) of the file to be opened or an
1042 integer file descriptor of the file to be wrapped. (If a file descriptor is
1043 given, it is closed when the returned I/O object is closed, unless *closefd*
1044 is set to ``False``.)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001045
Mark Summerfieldecff60e2007-12-14 10:07:44 +00001046 *mode* is an optional string that specifies the mode in which the file is
Benjamin Peterson4e4ffb12010-08-30 12:46:09 +00001047 opened. It defaults to ``'r'`` which means open for reading in text mode.
1048 Other common values are ``'w'`` for writing (truncating the file if it
Charles-François Natalib93f9fa2012-05-20 11:41:53 +02001049 already exists), ``'x'`` for exclusive creation and ``'a'`` for appending
1050 (which on *some* Unix systems, means that *all* writes append to the end of
1051 the file regardless of the current seek position). In text mode, if
Victor Stinnerf86a5e82012-06-05 13:43:22 +02001052 *encoding* is not specified the encoding used is platform dependent:
1053 ``locale.getpreferredencoding(False)`` is called to get the current locale
1054 encoding. (For reading and writing raw bytes use binary mode and leave
1055 *encoding* unspecified.) The available modes are:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001056
Andrés Delfinoa8ddf852018-06-25 03:06:10 -03001057 .. _filemodes:
1058
1059 .. index::
1060 pair: file; modes
1061
Benjamin Petersondd219122008-04-11 21:17:32 +00001062 ========= ===============================================================
1063 Character Meaning
Georg Brandl44ea77b2013-03-28 13:28:44 +01001064 ========= ===============================================================
Benjamin Petersondd219122008-04-11 21:17:32 +00001065 ``'r'`` open for reading (default)
Benjamin Peterson4e4ffb12010-08-30 12:46:09 +00001066 ``'w'`` open for writing, truncating the file first
Charles-François Natalib93f9fa2012-05-20 11:41:53 +02001067 ``'x'`` open for exclusive creation, failing if the file already exists
Benjamin Petersondd219122008-04-11 21:17:32 +00001068 ``'a'`` open for writing, appending to the end of the file if it exists
Georg Brandl7b6ca4a2009-04-27 06:13:55 +00001069 ``'b'`` binary mode
Benjamin Peterson4e4ffb12010-08-30 12:46:09 +00001070 ``'t'`` text mode (default)
1071 ``'+'`` open a disk file for updating (reading and writing)
Benjamin Petersondd219122008-04-11 21:17:32 +00001072 ========= ===============================================================
Mark Summerfieldecff60e2007-12-14 10:07:44 +00001073
Benjamin Peterson4e4ffb12010-08-30 12:46:09 +00001074 The default mode is ``'r'`` (open for reading text, synonym of ``'rt'``).
Benjamin Peterson6b4fa772010-08-30 13:19:53 +00001075 For binary read-write access, the mode ``'w+b'`` opens and truncates the file
1076 to 0 bytes. ``'r+b'`` opens the file without truncation.
Skip Montanaro1c639602007-09-23 19:49:54 +00001077
Benjamin Peterson6b4fa772010-08-30 13:19:53 +00001078 As mentioned in the :ref:`io-overview`, Python distinguishes between binary
1079 and text I/O. Files opened in binary mode (including ``'b'`` in the *mode*
1080 argument) return contents as :class:`bytes` objects without any decoding. In
1081 text mode (the default, or when ``'t'`` is included in the *mode* argument),
1082 the contents of the file are returned as :class:`str`, the bytes having been
1083 first decoded using a platform-dependent encoding or using the specified
1084 *encoding* if given.
Mark Summerfieldecff60e2007-12-14 10:07:44 +00001085
Nick Coghlan3171df32019-01-28 02:21:11 +10001086 There is an additional mode character permitted, ``'U'``, which no longer
1087 has any effect, and is considered deprecated. It previously enabled
1088 :term:`universal newlines` in text mode, which became the default behaviour
1089 in Python 3.0. Refer to the documentation of the
1090 :ref:`newline <open-newline-parameter>` parameter for further details.
1091
Benjamin Peterson4e4ffb12010-08-30 12:46:09 +00001092 .. note::
Benjamin Peterson4e4ffb12010-08-30 12:46:09 +00001093
Benjamin Peterson6b4fa772010-08-30 13:19:53 +00001094 Python doesn't depend on the underlying operating system's notion of text
Ezio Melottie130a522011-10-19 10:58:56 +03001095 files; all the processing is done by Python itself, and is therefore
Benjamin Peterson6b4fa772010-08-30 13:19:53 +00001096 platform-independent.
Benjamin Peterson4e4ffb12010-08-30 12:46:09 +00001097
Benjamin Peterson6b4fa772010-08-30 13:19:53 +00001098 *buffering* is an optional integer used to set the buffering policy. Pass 0
1099 to switch buffering off (only allowed in binary mode), 1 to select line
1100 buffering (only usable in text mode), and an integer > 1 to indicate the size
Terry Jan Reedydff04f42013-03-16 15:56:27 -04001101 in bytes of a fixed-size chunk buffer. When no *buffering* argument is
1102 given, the default buffering policy works as follows:
Benjamin Peterson4e4ffb12010-08-30 12:46:09 +00001103
Benjamin Peterson6b4fa772010-08-30 13:19:53 +00001104 * Binary files are buffered in fixed-size chunks; the size of the buffer is
1105 chosen using a heuristic trying to determine the underlying device's "block
1106 size" and falling back on :attr:`io.DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE`. On many systems,
1107 the buffer will typically be 4096 or 8192 bytes long.
1108
Serhiy Storchaka0d196ed2013-10-09 14:02:31 +03001109 * "Interactive" text files (files for which :meth:`~io.IOBase.isatty`
Serhiy Storchakafbc1c262013-11-29 12:17:13 +02001110 returns ``True``) use line buffering. Other text files use the policy
Serhiy Storchaka0d196ed2013-10-09 14:02:31 +03001111 described above for binary files.
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +00001112
Benjamin Petersondd219122008-04-11 21:17:32 +00001113 *encoding* is the name of the encoding used to decode or encode the file.
1114 This should only be used in text mode. The default encoding is platform
Benjamin Peterson52c3bf12009-03-23 02:44:58 +00001115 dependent (whatever :func:`locale.getpreferredencoding` returns), but any
Nick Coghlanb9fdb7a2015-01-07 00:22:00 +10001116 :term:`text encoding` supported by Python
1117 can be used. See the :mod:`codecs` module for
Benjamin Peterson52c3bf12009-03-23 02:44:58 +00001118 the list of supported encodings.
Mark Summerfieldecff60e2007-12-14 10:07:44 +00001119
Benjamin Peterson52c3bf12009-03-23 02:44:58 +00001120 *errors* is an optional string that specifies how encoding and decoding
Martin Panter357ed2e2016-11-21 00:15:20 +00001121 errors are to be handled—this cannot be used in binary mode.
Nick Coghlanb9fdb7a2015-01-07 00:22:00 +10001122 A variety of standard error handlers are available
1123 (listed under :ref:`error-handlers`), though any
Andrew Kuchlingc7b6c502013-06-16 12:58:48 -04001124 error handling name that has been registered with
1125 :func:`codecs.register_error` is also valid. The standard names
Nick Coghlanb9fdb7a2015-01-07 00:22:00 +10001126 include:
Andrew Kuchlingc7b6c502013-06-16 12:58:48 -04001127
1128 * ``'strict'`` to raise a :exc:`ValueError` exception if there is
1129 an encoding error. The default value of ``None`` has the same
1130 effect.
1131
1132 * ``'ignore'`` ignores errors. Note that ignoring encoding errors
1133 can lead to data loss.
1134
1135 * ``'replace'`` causes a replacement marker (such as ``'?'``) to be inserted
1136 where there is malformed data.
1137
1138 * ``'surrogateescape'`` will represent any incorrect bytes as code
1139 points in the Unicode Private Use Area ranging from U+DC80 to
1140 U+DCFF. These private code points will then be turned back into
1141 the same bytes when the ``surrogateescape`` error handler is used
1142 when writing data. This is useful for processing files in an
1143 unknown encoding.
1144
1145 * ``'xmlcharrefreplace'`` is only supported when writing to a file.
1146 Characters not supported by the encoding are replaced with the
1147 appropriate XML character reference ``&#nnn;``.
1148
Serhiy Storchaka07985ef2015-01-25 22:56:57 +02001149 * ``'backslashreplace'`` replaces malformed data by Python's backslashed
1150 escape sequences.
Mark Summerfieldecff60e2007-12-14 10:07:44 +00001151
Serhiy Storchaka166ebc42014-11-25 13:57:17 +02001152 * ``'namereplace'`` (also only supported when writing)
1153 replaces unsupported characters with ``\N{...}`` escape sequences.
1154
R David Murray1b00f252012-08-15 10:43:58 -04001155 .. index::
1156 single: universal newlines; open() built-in function
1157
Nick Coghlan3171df32019-01-28 02:21:11 +10001158 .. _open-newline-parameter:
1159
R David Murray1b00f252012-08-15 10:43:58 -04001160 *newline* controls how :term:`universal newlines` mode works (it only
R David Murrayee0a9452012-08-15 11:05:36 -04001161 applies to text mode). It can be ``None``, ``''``, ``'\n'``, ``'\r'``, and
1162 ``'\r\n'``. It works as follows:
Mark Summerfieldecff60e2007-12-14 10:07:44 +00001163
Georg Brandl296d1be2012-08-14 09:39:07 +02001164 * When reading input from the stream, if *newline* is ``None``, universal
1165 newlines mode is enabled. Lines in the input can end in ``'\n'``,
1166 ``'\r'``, or ``'\r\n'``, and these are translated into ``'\n'`` before
R David Murray1b00f252012-08-15 10:43:58 -04001167 being returned to the caller. If it is ``''``, universal newlines mode is
Georg Brandl296d1be2012-08-14 09:39:07 +02001168 enabled, but line endings are returned to the caller untranslated. If it
1169 has any of the other legal values, input lines are only terminated by the
1170 given string, and the line ending is returned to the caller untranslated.
Benjamin Petersondd219122008-04-11 21:17:32 +00001171
Georg Brandl296d1be2012-08-14 09:39:07 +02001172 * When writing output to the stream, if *newline* is ``None``, any ``'\n'``
1173 characters written are translated to the system default line separator,
1174 :data:`os.linesep`. If *newline* is ``''`` or ``'\n'``, no translation
1175 takes place. If *newline* is any of the other legal values, any ``'\n'``
1176 characters written are translated to the given string.
Benjamin Petersondd219122008-04-11 21:17:32 +00001177
Benjamin Peterson8cad9c72009-03-23 02:38:01 +00001178 If *closefd* is ``False`` and a file descriptor rather than a filename was
1179 given, the underlying file descriptor will be kept open when the file is
Robert Collins933430a2014-10-18 13:32:43 +13001180 closed. If a filename is given *closefd* must be ``True`` (the default)
1181 otherwise an error will be raised.
Benjamin Peterson8cad9c72009-03-23 02:38:01 +00001182
Ross Lagerwall59142db2011-10-31 20:34:46 +02001183 A custom opener can be used by passing a callable as *opener*. The underlying
1184 file descriptor for the file object is then obtained by calling *opener* with
1185 (*file*, *flags*). *opener* must return an open file descriptor (passing
1186 :mod:`os.open` as *opener* results in functionality similar to passing
1187 ``None``).
1188
Victor Stinnerdaf45552013-08-28 00:53:59 +02001189 The newly created file is :ref:`non-inheritable <fd_inheritance>`.
1190
Éric Araujo5bd92702012-11-22 00:13:49 -05001191 The following example uses the :ref:`dir_fd <dir_fd>` parameter of the
Éric Araujo8f423c92012-11-03 17:06:52 -04001192 :func:`os.open` function to open a file relative to a given directory::
1193
1194 >>> import os
Éric Araujo5bd92702012-11-22 00:13:49 -05001195 >>> dir_fd = os.open('somedir', os.O_RDONLY)
1196 >>> def opener(path, flags):
1197 ... return os.open(path, flags, dir_fd=dir_fd)
Éric Araujo8f423c92012-11-03 17:06:52 -04001198 ...
Éric Araujo8f423c92012-11-03 17:06:52 -04001199 >>> with open('spamspam.txt', 'w', opener=opener) as f:
1200 ... print('This will be written to somedir/spamspam.txt', file=f)
1201 ...
Éric Araujo309b0432012-11-03 17:39:45 -04001202 >>> os.close(dir_fd) # don't leak a file descriptor
Éric Araujo8f423c92012-11-03 17:06:52 -04001203
R David Murray9f0c9402012-08-17 20:33:54 -04001204 The type of :term:`file object` returned by the :func:`open` function
R David Murray433ef3b2012-08-17 20:39:21 -04001205 depends on the mode. When :func:`open` is used to open a file in a text
1206 mode (``'w'``, ``'r'``, ``'wt'``, ``'rt'``, etc.), it returns a subclass of
Benjamin Peterson6b4fa772010-08-30 13:19:53 +00001207 :class:`io.TextIOBase` (specifically :class:`io.TextIOWrapper`). When used
1208 to open a file in a binary mode with buffering, the returned class is a
1209 subclass of :class:`io.BufferedIOBase`. The exact class varies: in read
Martin Panter7462b6492015-11-02 03:37:02 +00001210 binary mode, it returns an :class:`io.BufferedReader`; in write binary and
1211 append binary modes, it returns an :class:`io.BufferedWriter`, and in
1212 read/write mode, it returns an :class:`io.BufferedRandom`. When buffering is
Benjamin Peterson6b4fa772010-08-30 13:19:53 +00001213 disabled, the raw stream, a subclass of :class:`io.RawIOBase`,
1214 :class:`io.FileIO`, is returned.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001215
1216 .. index::
1217 single: line-buffered I/O
1218 single: unbuffered I/O
1219 single: buffer size, I/O
1220 single: I/O control; buffering
Skip Montanaro4d8c1932007-09-23 21:13:45 +00001221 single: binary mode
1222 single: text mode
1223 module: sys
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001224
Benjamin Petersondd219122008-04-11 21:17:32 +00001225 See also the file handling modules, such as, :mod:`fileinput`, :mod:`io`
Benjamin Peterson8cad9c72009-03-23 02:38:01 +00001226 (where :func:`open` is declared), :mod:`os`, :mod:`os.path`, :mod:`tempfile`,
1227 and :mod:`shutil`.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001228
Steve Dower44f91c32019-06-27 10:47:59 -07001229 .. audit-event:: open file,mode,flags open
Steve Dowerb82e17e2019-05-23 08:45:22 -07001230
1231 The ``mode`` and ``flags`` arguments may have been modified or inferred from
1232 the original call.
1233
Steve Dower39294992016-08-30 21:22:36 -07001234 .. versionchanged::
1235 3.3
Antoine Pitrou62ab10a02011-10-12 20:10:51 +02001236
Steve Dower39294992016-08-30 21:22:36 -07001237 * The *opener* parameter was added.
1238 * The ``'x'`` mode was added.
1239 * :exc:`IOError` used to be raised, it is now an alias of :exc:`OSError`.
1240 * :exc:`FileExistsError` is now raised if the file opened in exclusive
NAKAMURA Osamu29540cd2017-03-25 11:55:08 +09001241 creation mode (``'x'``) already exists.
Steve Dower39294992016-08-30 21:22:36 -07001242
1243 .. versionchanged::
1244 3.4
1245
1246 * The file is now non-inheritable.
Victor Stinnerdaf45552013-08-28 00:53:59 +02001247
Serhiy Storchaka6787a382013-11-23 22:12:06 +02001248 .. deprecated-removed:: 3.4 4.0
Victor Stinnerc803bd82014-10-22 09:55:44 +02001249
Serhiy Storchaka6787a382013-11-23 22:12:06 +02001250 The ``'U'`` mode.
1251
Steve Dower39294992016-08-30 21:22:36 -07001252 .. versionchanged::
1253 3.5
Victor Stinnera766ddf2015-03-26 23:50:57 +01001254
Steve Dower39294992016-08-30 21:22:36 -07001255 * If the system call is interrupted and the signal handler does not raise an
1256 exception, the function now retries the system call instead of raising an
1257 :exc:`InterruptedError` exception (see :pep:`475` for the rationale).
1258 * The ``'namereplace'`` error handler was added.
Georg Brandlf6945182008-02-01 11:56:49 +00001259
Steve Dower39294992016-08-30 21:22:36 -07001260 .. versionchanged::
1261 3.6
1262
1263 * Support added to accept objects implementing :class:`os.PathLike`.
1264 * On Windows, opening a console buffer may return a subclass of
1265 :class:`io.RawIOBase` other than :class:`io.FileIO`.
Brett Cannonb08388d2016-06-09 15:58:06 -07001266
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001267.. function:: ord(c)
1268
Ezio Melottic99c8582011-10-25 09:32:34 +03001269 Given a string representing one Unicode character, return an integer
Nick Coghlaneed67192014-08-17 14:07:53 +10001270 representing the Unicode code point of that character. For example,
Terry Jan Reedy063d48d2016-03-20 21:18:40 -04001271 ``ord('a')`` returns the integer ``97`` and ``ord('€')`` (Euro sign)
1272 returns ``8364``. This is the inverse of :func:`chr`.
Georg Brandlf6945182008-02-01 11:56:49 +00001273
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001274
1275.. function:: pow(x, y[, z])
1276
1277 Return *x* to the power *y*; if *z* is present, return *x* to the power *y*,
1278 modulo *z* (computed more efficiently than ``pow(x, y) % z``). The two-argument
1279 form ``pow(x, y)`` is equivalent to using the power operator: ``x**y``.
1280
Georg Brandle06de8b2008-05-05 21:42:51 +00001281 The arguments must have numeric types. With mixed operand types, the
1282 coercion rules for binary arithmetic operators apply. For :class:`int`
1283 operands, the result has the same type as the operands (after coercion)
1284 unless the second argument is negative; in that case, all arguments are
1285 converted to float and a float result is delivered. For example, ``10**2``
Mark Dickinsonc5299672019-06-02 10:24:06 +01001286 returns ``100``, but ``10**-2`` returns ``0.01``.
1287
1288 For :class:`int` operands *x* and *y*, if *z* is present, *z* must also be
1289 of integer type and *z* must be nonzero. If *z* is present and *y* is
1290 negative, *x* must be relatively prime to *z*. In that case, ``pow(inv_x,
1291 -y, z)`` is returned, where *inv_x* is an inverse to *x* modulo *z*.
1292
1293 Here's an example of computing an inverse for ``38`` modulo ``97``::
1294
1295 >>> pow(38, -1, 97)
1296 23
1297 >>> 23 * 38 % 97 == 1
1298 True
1299
1300 .. versionchanged:: 3.8
1301 For :class:`int` operands, the three-argument form of ``pow`` now allows
1302 the second argument to be negative, permitting computation of modular
1303 inverses.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001304
1305
Ezio Melotti8429b672012-09-14 06:35:09 +03001306.. function:: print(*objects, sep=' ', end='\\n', file=sys.stdout, flush=False)
Georg Brandlf6945182008-02-01 11:56:49 +00001307
Terry Jan Reedy1895f2b2014-10-01 15:37:42 -04001308 Print *objects* to the text stream *file*, separated by *sep* and followed
Berker Peksag61b9ac92017-04-13 15:48:18 +03001309 by *end*. *sep*, *end*, *file* and *flush*, if present, must be given as keyword
Georg Brandlf6945182008-02-01 11:56:49 +00001310 arguments.
1311
1312 All non-keyword arguments are converted to strings like :func:`str` does and
1313 written to the stream, separated by *sep* and followed by *end*. Both *sep*
1314 and *end* must be strings; they can also be ``None``, which means to use the
Ezio Melottie0add762012-09-14 06:32:35 +03001315 default values. If no *objects* are given, :func:`print` will just write
Georg Brandlf6945182008-02-01 11:56:49 +00001316 *end*.
1317
1318 The *file* argument must be an object with a ``write(string)`` method; if it
Terry Jan Reedy1895f2b2014-10-01 15:37:42 -04001319 is not present or ``None``, :data:`sys.stdout` will be used. Since printed
1320 arguments are converted to text strings, :func:`print` cannot be used with
1321 binary mode file objects. For these, use ``file.write(...)`` instead.
1322
1323 Whether output is buffered is usually determined by *file*, but if the
1324 *flush* keyword argument is true, the stream is forcibly flushed.
Georg Brandlbc3b6822012-01-13 19:41:25 +01001325
1326 .. versionchanged:: 3.3
1327 Added the *flush* keyword argument.
Georg Brandlf6945182008-02-01 11:56:49 +00001328
1329
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +02001330.. class:: property(fget=None, fset=None, fdel=None, doc=None)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001331
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +00001332 Return a property attribute.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001333
Raymond Hettingerac191ce2014-08-10 10:41:25 -07001334 *fget* is a function for getting an attribute value. *fset* is a function
1335 for setting an attribute value. *fdel* is a function for deleting an attribute
1336 value. And *doc* creates a docstring for the attribute.
1337
1338 A typical use is to define a managed attribute ``x``::
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001339
Éric Araujo28053fb2010-11-22 03:09:19 +00001340 class C:
Alexandre Vassalotti5f8ced22008-05-16 00:03:33 +00001341 def __init__(self):
1342 self._x = None
1343
1344 def getx(self):
1345 return self._x
Raymond Hettingerac191ce2014-08-10 10:41:25 -07001346
Alexandre Vassalotti5f8ced22008-05-16 00:03:33 +00001347 def setx(self, value):
1348 self._x = value
Raymond Hettingerac191ce2014-08-10 10:41:25 -07001349
Alexandre Vassalotti5f8ced22008-05-16 00:03:33 +00001350 def delx(self):
1351 del self._x
Raymond Hettingerac191ce2014-08-10 10:41:25 -07001352
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001353 x = property(getx, setx, delx, "I'm the 'x' property.")
1354
Raymond Hettingerac191ce2014-08-10 10:41:25 -07001355 If *c* is an instance of *C*, ``c.x`` will invoke the getter,
Georg Brandl7528b9b2010-08-02 19:23:34 +00001356 ``c.x = value`` will invoke the setter and ``del c.x`` the deleter.
1357
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001358 If given, *doc* will be the docstring of the property attribute. Otherwise, the
1359 property will copy *fget*'s docstring (if it exists). This makes it possible to
Christian Heimesd8654cf2007-12-02 15:22:16 +00001360 create read-only properties easily using :func:`property` as a :term:`decorator`::
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001361
Éric Araujo28053fb2010-11-22 03:09:19 +00001362 class Parrot:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001363 def __init__(self):
1364 self._voltage = 100000
1365
1366 @property
1367 def voltage(self):
1368 """Get the current voltage."""
1369 return self._voltage
1370
Raymond Hettingerac191ce2014-08-10 10:41:25 -07001371 The ``@property`` decorator turns the :meth:`voltage` method into a "getter"
1372 for a read-only attribute with the same name, and it sets the docstring for
1373 *voltage* to "Get the current voltage."
Alexandre Vassalotti5f8ced22008-05-16 00:03:33 +00001374
Serhiy Storchaka0d196ed2013-10-09 14:02:31 +03001375 A property object has :attr:`~property.getter`, :attr:`~property.setter`,
1376 and :attr:`~property.deleter` methods usable as decorators that create a
1377 copy of the property with the corresponding accessor function set to the
1378 decorated function. This is best explained with an example::
Alexandre Vassalotti5f8ced22008-05-16 00:03:33 +00001379
Éric Araujo28053fb2010-11-22 03:09:19 +00001380 class C:
Benjamin Peterson206e3072008-10-19 14:07:49 +00001381 def __init__(self):
1382 self._x = None
Alexandre Vassalotti5f8ced22008-05-16 00:03:33 +00001383
1384 @property
1385 def x(self):
1386 """I'm the 'x' property."""
1387 return self._x
1388
1389 @x.setter
1390 def x(self, value):
1391 self._x = value
1392
1393 @x.deleter
1394 def x(self):
1395 del self._x
1396
1397 This code is exactly equivalent to the first example. Be sure to give the
1398 additional functions the same name as the original property (``x`` in this
1399 case.)
1400
Raymond Hettingerac191ce2014-08-10 10:41:25 -07001401 The returned property object also has the attributes ``fget``, ``fset``, and
Alexandre Vassalotti5f8ced22008-05-16 00:03:33 +00001402 ``fdel`` corresponding to the constructor arguments.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001403
Raymond Hettinger29655df2015-05-15 16:17:05 -07001404 .. versionchanged:: 3.5
1405 The docstrings of property objects are now writeable.
1406
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001407
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +10001408.. _func-range:
Ezio Melottie0add762012-09-14 06:32:35 +03001409.. function:: range(stop)
1410 range(start, stop[, step])
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +10001411 :noindex:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001412
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +10001413 Rather than being a function, :class:`range` is actually an immutable
Chris Jerdonek006d9072012-10-12 20:28:26 -07001414 sequence type, as documented in :ref:`typesseq-range` and :ref:`typesseq`.
Benjamin Peterson878ce382011-11-05 15:17:52 -04001415
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001416
1417.. function:: repr(object)
1418
Georg Brandl68ee3a52008-03-25 07:21:32 +00001419 Return a string containing a printable representation of an object. For many
1420 types, this function makes an attempt to return a string that would yield an
1421 object with the same value when passed to :func:`eval`, otherwise the
1422 representation is a string enclosed in angle brackets that contains the name
1423 of the type of the object together with additional information often
1424 including the name and address of the object. A class can control what this
1425 function returns for its instances by defining a :meth:`__repr__` method.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001426
1427
1428.. function:: reversed(seq)
1429
Christian Heimes7f044312008-01-06 17:05:40 +00001430 Return a reverse :term:`iterator`. *seq* must be an object which has
1431 a :meth:`__reversed__` method or supports the sequence protocol (the
1432 :meth:`__len__` method and the :meth:`__getitem__` method with integer
1433 arguments starting at ``0``).
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001434
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001435
Mark Dickinson4e12ad12012-09-20 20:51:14 +01001436.. function:: round(number[, ndigits])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001437
csabella85deefc2017-03-29 17:14:06 -04001438 Return *number* rounded to *ndigits* precision after the decimal
1439 point. If *ndigits* is omitted or is ``None``, it returns the
1440 nearest integer to its input.
Georg Brandl809ddaa2008-07-01 20:39:59 +00001441
1442 For the built-in types supporting :func:`round`, values are rounded to the
Mark Dickinson4e12ad12012-09-20 20:51:14 +01001443 closest multiple of 10 to the power minus *ndigits*; if two multiples are
1444 equally close, rounding is done toward the even choice (so, for example,
1445 both ``round(0.5)`` and ``round(-0.5)`` are ``0``, and ``round(1.5)`` is
Gerrit Holl6003db72017-03-27 23:15:20 +01001446 ``2``). Any integer value is valid for *ndigits* (positive, zero, or
Lisa Roach900c48d2018-05-20 11:00:18 -04001447 negative). The return value is an integer if *ndigits* is omitted or
1448 ``None``.
1449 Otherwise the return value has the same type as *number*.
Christian Heimes072c0f12008-01-03 23:01:04 +00001450
Lisa Roach900c48d2018-05-20 11:00:18 -04001451 For a general Python object ``number``, ``round`` delegates to
1452 ``number.__round__``.
csabella85deefc2017-03-29 17:14:06 -04001453
Mark Dickinsonc4fbcdc2010-07-30 13:13:02 +00001454 .. note::
1455
1456 The behavior of :func:`round` for floats can be surprising: for example,
1457 ``round(2.675, 2)`` gives ``2.67`` instead of the expected ``2.68``.
1458 This is not a bug: it's a result of the fact that most decimal fractions
1459 can't be represented exactly as a float. See :ref:`tut-fp-issues` for
1460 more information.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001461
Éric Araujo9edd9f02011-09-01 23:08:55 +02001462
1463.. _func-set:
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +02001464.. class:: set([iterable])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001465 :noindex:
1466
Chris Jerdonekdf3abec2012-11-09 18:57:32 -08001467 Return a new :class:`set` object, optionally with elements taken from
1468 *iterable*. ``set`` is a built-in class. See :class:`set` and
1469 :ref:`types-set` for documentation about this class.
1470
1471 For other containers see the built-in :class:`frozenset`, :class:`list`,
1472 :class:`tuple`, and :class:`dict` classes, as well as the :mod:`collections`
1473 module.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001474
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001475
1476.. function:: setattr(object, name, value)
1477
1478 This is the counterpart of :func:`getattr`. The arguments are an object, a
1479 string and an arbitrary value. The string may name an existing attribute or a
1480 new attribute. The function assigns the value to the attribute, provided the
1481 object allows it. For example, ``setattr(x, 'foobar', 123)`` is equivalent to
1482 ``x.foobar = 123``.
1483
1484
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +02001485.. class:: slice(stop)
1486 slice(start, stop[, step])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001487
1488 .. index:: single: Numerical Python
1489
Christian Heimesd8654cf2007-12-02 15:22:16 +00001490 Return a :term:`slice` object representing the set of indices specified by
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001491 ``range(start, stop, step)``. The *start* and *step* arguments default to
Serhiy Storchaka0d196ed2013-10-09 14:02:31 +03001492 ``None``. Slice objects have read-only data attributes :attr:`~slice.start`,
1493 :attr:`~slice.stop` and :attr:`~slice.step` which merely return the argument
1494 values (or their default). They have no other explicit functionality;
1495 however they are used by Numerical Python and other third party extensions.
1496 Slice objects are also generated when extended indexing syntax is used. For
1497 example: ``a[start:stop:step]`` or ``a[start:stop, i]``. See
1498 :func:`itertools.islice` for an alternate version that returns an iterator.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001499
1500
Łukasz Rogalskibe37beb2017-07-14 21:23:39 +02001501.. function:: sorted(iterable, *, key=None, reverse=False)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001502
1503 Return a new sorted list from the items in *iterable*.
1504
Raymond Hettinger51b9c242008-02-14 13:52:24 +00001505 Has two optional arguments which must be specified as keyword arguments.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001506
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001507 *key* specifies a function of one argument that is used to extract a comparison
Wolfgang Maier6bdb6f72018-10-15 21:06:53 +02001508 key from each element in *iterable* (for example, ``key=str.lower``). The
1509 default value is ``None`` (compare the elements directly).
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001510
1511 *reverse* is a boolean value. If set to ``True``, then the list elements are
1512 sorted as if each comparison were reversed.
1513
Benjamin Peterson7ac98ae2010-08-17 17:52:02 +00001514 Use :func:`functools.cmp_to_key` to convert an old-style *cmp* function to a
1515 *key* function.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001516
Ezio Melotti9b1e92f2014-10-28 12:57:11 +01001517 The built-in :func:`sorted` function is guaranteed to be stable. A sort is
1518 stable if it guarantees not to change the relative order of elements that
1519 compare equal --- this is helpful for sorting in multiple passes (for
1520 example, sort by department, then by salary grade).
1521
Senthil Kumarand03d1d42016-01-01 23:25:58 -08001522 For sorting examples and a brief sorting tutorial, see :ref:`sortinghowto`.
Raymond Hettinger46fca072010-04-02 00:25:45 +00001523
Daisuke Miyakawa0e61e672017-10-12 23:39:43 +09001524.. decorator:: staticmethod
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001525
Daisuke Miyakawa0e61e672017-10-12 23:39:43 +09001526 Transform a method into a static method.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001527
1528 A static method does not receive an implicit first argument. To declare a static
1529 method, use this idiom::
1530
1531 class C:
1532 @staticmethod
1533 def f(arg1, arg2, ...): ...
1534
Andre Delfino548cb602019-03-25 19:53:43 -03001535 The ``@staticmethod`` form is a function :term:`decorator` -- see
1536 :ref:`function` for details.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001537
Andre Delfino548cb602019-03-25 19:53:43 -03001538 A static method can be called either on the class (such as ``C.f()``) or on an instance (such
1539 as ``C().f()``).
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001540
Raymond Hettinger90289282011-06-01 16:17:23 -07001541 Static methods in Python are similar to those found in Java or C++. Also see
1542 :func:`classmethod` for a variant that is useful for creating alternate class
1543 constructors.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001544
Éric Araujo03b95372017-10-12 12:28:55 -04001545 Like all decorators, it is also possible to call ``staticmethod`` as
1546 a regular function and do something with its result. This is needed
1547 in some cases where you need a reference to a function from a class
1548 body and you want to avoid the automatic transformation to instance
cocoatomo2a3260b2018-01-29 17:30:48 +09001549 method. For these cases, use this idiom::
Éric Araujo03b95372017-10-12 12:28:55 -04001550
1551 class C:
1552 builtin_open = staticmethod(open)
1553
Andre Delfino548cb602019-03-25 19:53:43 -03001554 For more information on static methods, see :ref:`types`.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001555
Chris Jerdonek5fae0e52012-11-20 17:45:51 -08001556
Éric Araujo03b95372017-10-12 12:28:55 -04001557.. index::
1558 single: string; str() (built-in function)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001559
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +10001560.. _func-str:
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +02001561.. class:: str(object='')
1562 str(object=b'', encoding='utf-8', errors='strict')
Chris Jerdonekbb4e9412012-11-28 01:38:40 -08001563 :noindex:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001564
Chris Jerdonekbb4e9412012-11-28 01:38:40 -08001565 Return a :class:`str` version of *object*. See :func:`str` for details.
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +00001566
Chris Jerdonekbb4e9412012-11-28 01:38:40 -08001567 ``str`` is the built-in string :term:`class`. For general information
1568 about strings, see :ref:`textseq`.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001569
1570
Pablo Galindoc4c421d2019-06-06 00:11:46 +01001571.. function:: sum(iterable, /, start=0)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001572
1573 Sums *start* and the items of an *iterable* from left to right and returns the
Pablo Galindoc4c421d2019-06-06 00:11:46 +01001574 total. The *iterable*'s items are normally numbers, and the start value is not
1575 allowed to be a string.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001576
Éric Araujo8f9626b2010-11-06 06:30:16 +00001577 For some use cases, there are good alternatives to :func:`sum`.
Raymond Hettingerb3737992010-10-31 21:23:24 +00001578 The preferred, fast way to concatenate a sequence of strings is by calling
1579 ``''.join(sequence)``. To add floating point values with extended precision,
1580 see :func:`math.fsum`\. To concatenate a series of iterables, consider using
1581 :func:`itertools.chain`.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001582
Raymond Hettinger9dfa0fe2018-09-12 10:54:06 -07001583 .. versionchanged:: 3.8
1584 The *start* parameter can be specified as a keyword argument.
1585
Mark Summerfield1041f742008-02-26 13:27:00 +00001586.. function:: super([type[, object-or-type]])
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001587
Raymond Hettinger4d9a8232009-02-24 23:30:43 +00001588 Return a proxy object that delegates method calls to a parent or sibling
1589 class of *type*. This is useful for accessing inherited methods that have
1590 been overridden in a class. The search order is same as that used by
1591 :func:`getattr` except that the *type* itself is skipped.
1592
Serhiy Storchaka0d196ed2013-10-09 14:02:31 +03001593 The :attr:`~class.__mro__` attribute of the *type* lists the method
1594 resolution search order used by both :func:`getattr` and :func:`super`. The
1595 attribute is dynamic and can change whenever the inheritance hierarchy is
1596 updated.
Benjamin Peterson3e4f0552008-09-02 00:31:15 +00001597
Raymond Hettinger79d04342009-02-25 00:32:51 +00001598 If the second argument is omitted, the super object returned is unbound. If
Benjamin Peterson9bc93512008-09-22 22:10:59 +00001599 the second argument is an object, ``isinstance(obj, type)`` must be true. If
Benjamin Petersond75fcb42009-02-19 04:22:03 +00001600 the second argument is a type, ``issubclass(type2, type)`` must be true (this
1601 is useful for classmethods).
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001602
Raymond Hettinger0a68b012009-02-25 00:58:47 +00001603 There are two typical use cases for *super*. In a class hierarchy with
1604 single inheritance, *super* can be used to refer to parent classes without
Benjamin Peterson9bc93512008-09-22 22:10:59 +00001605 naming them explicitly, thus making the code more maintainable. This use
Raymond Hettinger0a68b012009-02-25 00:58:47 +00001606 closely parallels the use of *super* in other programming languages.
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +00001607
Raymond Hettinger4d9a8232009-02-24 23:30:43 +00001608 The second use case is to support cooperative multiple inheritance in a
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +00001609 dynamic execution environment. This use case is unique to Python and is
1610 not found in statically compiled languages or languages that only support
Raymond Hettingerd1258452009-02-26 00:27:18 +00001611 single inheritance. This makes it possible to implement "diamond diagrams"
Benjamin Peterson9bc93512008-09-22 22:10:59 +00001612 where multiple base classes implement the same method. Good design dictates
1613 that this method have the same calling signature in every case (because the
Raymond Hettinger4d9a8232009-02-24 23:30:43 +00001614 order of calls is determined at runtime, because that order adapts
1615 to changes in the class hierarchy, and because that order can include
1616 sibling classes that are unknown prior to runtime).
Benjamin Peterson9bc93512008-09-22 22:10:59 +00001617
1618 For both use cases, a typical superclass call looks like this::
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001619
1620 class C(B):
Mark Summerfield1041f742008-02-26 13:27:00 +00001621 def method(self, arg):
Georg Brandl036490d2009-05-17 13:00:36 +00001622 super().method(arg) # This does the same thing as:
1623 # super(C, self).method(arg)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001624
1625 Note that :func:`super` is implemented as part of the binding process for
Mark Summerfield1041f742008-02-26 13:27:00 +00001626 explicit dotted attribute lookups such as ``super().__getitem__(name)``.
Benjamin Peterson9bc93512008-09-22 22:10:59 +00001627 It does so by implementing its own :meth:`__getattribute__` method for searching
Raymond Hettinger4d9a8232009-02-24 23:30:43 +00001628 classes in a predictable order that supports cooperative multiple inheritance.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001629 Accordingly, :func:`super` is undefined for implicit lookups using statements or
Raymond Hettinger518d8da2008-12-06 11:44:00 +00001630 operators such as ``super()[name]``.
1631
Nick Coghlan7fc570a2012-05-20 02:34:13 +10001632 Also note that, aside from the zero argument form, :func:`super` is not
1633 limited to use inside methods. The two argument form specifies the
1634 arguments exactly and makes the appropriate references. The zero
1635 argument form only works inside a class definition, as the compiler fills
1636 in the necessary details to correctly retrieve the class being defined,
1637 as well as accessing the current instance for ordinary methods.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001638
Raymond Hettinger90289282011-06-01 16:17:23 -07001639 For practical suggestions on how to design cooperative classes using
1640 :func:`super`, see `guide to using super()
Georg Brandl5d941342016-02-26 19:37:12 +01001641 <https://rhettinger.wordpress.com/2011/05/26/super-considered-super/>`_.
Raymond Hettinger90289282011-06-01 16:17:23 -07001642
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001643
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +10001644.. _func-tuple:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001645.. function:: tuple([iterable])
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +10001646 :noindex:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001647
Nick Coghlan83c0ae52012-08-21 17:42:52 +10001648 Rather than being a function, :class:`tuple` is actually an immutable
Chris Jerdonek006d9072012-10-12 20:28:26 -07001649 sequence type, as documented in :ref:`typesseq-tuple` and :ref:`typesseq`.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001650
1651
Georg Brandleb7e8f62014-10-06 13:54:36 +02001652.. class:: type(object)
1653 type(name, bases, dict)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001654
1655 .. index:: object: type
1656
Ezio Melotti837cd062012-10-24 23:06:25 +03001657 With one argument, return the type of an *object*. The return value is a
Serhiy Storchaka0d196ed2013-10-09 14:02:31 +03001658 type object and generally the same object as returned by
1659 :attr:`object.__class__ <instance.__class__>`.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001660
Georg Brandl85eb8c12007-08-31 16:33:38 +00001661 The :func:`isinstance` built-in function is recommended for testing the type
1662 of an object, because it takes subclasses into account.
1663
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001664
Ezio Melotti837cd062012-10-24 23:06:25 +03001665 With three arguments, return a new type object. This is essentially a
1666 dynamic form of the :keyword:`class` statement. The *name* string is the
Martin Panterbae5d812016-06-18 03:57:31 +00001667 class name and becomes the :attr:`~definition.__name__` attribute; the *bases*
Serhiy Storchaka0d196ed2013-10-09 14:02:31 +03001668 tuple itemizes the base classes and becomes the :attr:`~class.__bases__`
1669 attribute; and the *dict* dictionary is the namespace containing definitions
R David Murraydd4fcf52016-06-02 20:05:43 -04001670 for class body and is copied to a standard dictionary to become the
1671 :attr:`~object.__dict__` attribute. For example, the following two
1672 statements create identical :class:`type` objects:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001673
Éric Araujo28053fb2010-11-22 03:09:19 +00001674 >>> class X:
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001675 ... a = 1
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +00001676 ...
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001677 >>> X = type('X', (object,), dict(a=1))
1678
Chris Jerdonek006d9072012-10-12 20:28:26 -07001679 See also :ref:`bltin-type-objects`.
1680
Berker Peksag3f015a62016-08-19 11:04:07 +03001681 .. versionchanged:: 3.6
1682 Subclasses of :class:`type` which don't override ``type.__new__`` may no
1683 longer use the one-argument form to get the type of an object.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001684
1685.. function:: vars([object])
1686
Serhiy Storchaka0d196ed2013-10-09 14:02:31 +03001687 Return the :attr:`~object.__dict__` attribute for a module, class, instance,
Martin Panterbae5d812016-06-18 03:57:31 +00001688 or any other object with a :attr:`~object.__dict__` attribute.
Benjamin Peterson4ac9ce42009-10-04 14:49:41 +00001689
Martin Panterbae5d812016-06-18 03:57:31 +00001690 Objects such as modules and instances have an updateable :attr:`~object.__dict__`
Raymond Hettingerd7100172013-06-02 10:03:05 -07001691 attribute; however, other objects may have write restrictions on their
Martin Panterbae5d812016-06-18 03:57:31 +00001692 :attr:`~object.__dict__` attributes (for example, classes use a
Berker Peksag37e87e62016-06-24 09:12:01 +03001693 :class:`types.MappingProxyType` to prevent direct dictionary updates).
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001694
Raymond Hettingerd7100172013-06-02 10:03:05 -07001695 Without an argument, :func:`vars` acts like :func:`locals`. Note, the
1696 locals dictionary is only useful for reads since updates to the locals
1697 dictionary are ignored.
1698
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001699
Raymond Hettingerdd1150e2008-03-13 02:39:40 +00001700.. function:: zip(*iterables)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001701
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +00001702 Make an iterator that aggregates elements from each of the iterables.
Raymond Hettingerdd1150e2008-03-13 02:39:40 +00001703
1704 Returns an iterator of tuples, where the *i*-th tuple contains
Georg Brandl952aea22007-09-04 17:50:40 +00001705 the *i*-th element from each of the argument sequences or iterables. The
Raymond Hettingerdd1150e2008-03-13 02:39:40 +00001706 iterator stops when the shortest input iterable is exhausted. With a single
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +00001707 iterable argument, it returns an iterator of 1-tuples. With no arguments,
Raymond Hettingerdd1150e2008-03-13 02:39:40 +00001708 it returns an empty iterator. Equivalent to::
1709
Raymond Hettinger2f08df32010-10-10 05:54:39 +00001710 def zip(*iterables):
1711 # zip('ABCD', 'xy') --> Ax By
1712 sentinel = object()
Raymond Hettinger6f45d182011-10-30 15:06:14 -07001713 iterators = [iter(it) for it in iterables]
1714 while iterators:
Raymond Hettinger2f08df32010-10-10 05:54:39 +00001715 result = []
Raymond Hettinger6f45d182011-10-30 15:06:14 -07001716 for it in iterators:
Raymond Hettinger2f08df32010-10-10 05:54:39 +00001717 elem = next(it, sentinel)
1718 if elem is sentinel:
1719 return
1720 result.append(elem)
1721 yield tuple(result)
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001722
Christian Heimes1af737c2008-01-23 08:24:23 +00001723 The left-to-right evaluation order of the iterables is guaranteed. This
1724 makes possible an idiom for clustering a data series into n-length groups
Raymond Hettinger0907a452015-05-13 02:34:38 -07001725 using ``zip(*[iter(s)]*n)``. This repeats the *same* iterator ``n`` times
1726 so that each output tuple has the result of ``n`` calls to the iterator.
1727 This has the effect of dividing the input into n-length chunks.
Christian Heimes1af737c2008-01-23 08:24:23 +00001728
Raymond Hettingerdd1150e2008-03-13 02:39:40 +00001729 :func:`zip` should only be used with unequal length inputs when you don't
1730 care about trailing, unmatched values from the longer iterables. If those
1731 values are important, use :func:`itertools.zip_longest` instead.
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001732
Benjamin Petersonf10a79a2008-10-11 00:49:57 +00001733 :func:`zip` in conjunction with the ``*`` operator can be used to unzip a
1734 list::
1735
1736 >>> x = [1, 2, 3]
1737 >>> y = [4, 5, 6]
1738 >>> zipped = zip(x, y)
Georg Brandl17fe3642008-12-06 14:28:56 +00001739 >>> list(zipped)
Benjamin Petersonf10a79a2008-10-11 00:49:57 +00001740 [(1, 4), (2, 5), (3, 6)]
Georg Brandl17fe3642008-12-06 14:28:56 +00001741 >>> x2, y2 = zip(*zip(x, y))
Benjamin Petersonfa0d7032009-06-01 22:42:33 +00001742 >>> x == list(x2) and y == list(y2)
Benjamin Petersonf10a79a2008-10-11 00:49:57 +00001743 True
1744
Georg Brandl2ee470f2008-07-16 12:55:28 +00001745
Brett Cannoncb4996a2012-08-06 16:34:44 -04001746.. function:: __import__(name, globals=None, locals=None, fromlist=(), level=0)
Georg Brandl48367812008-12-05 15:55:41 +00001747
1748 .. index::
1749 statement: import
1750 module: imp
1751
1752 .. note::
1753
1754 This is an advanced function that is not needed in everyday Python
Éric Araujoe801aa22011-07-29 17:50:58 +02001755 programming, unlike :func:`importlib.import_module`.
Georg Brandl48367812008-12-05 15:55:41 +00001756
Benjamin Peterson6ebe78f2008-12-21 00:06:59 +00001757 This function is invoked by the :keyword:`import` statement. It can be
1758 replaced (by importing the :mod:`builtins` module and assigning to
1759 ``builtins.__import__``) in order to change semantics of the
Serhiy Storchaka2b57c432018-12-19 08:09:46 +02001760 :keyword:`!import` statement, but doing so is **strongly** discouraged as it
Brett Cannonf5ebd262013-08-23 10:58:49 -04001761 is usually simpler to use import hooks (see :pep:`302`) to attain the same
1762 goals and does not cause issues with code which assumes the default import
1763 implementation is in use. Direct use of :func:`__import__` is also
1764 discouraged in favor of :func:`importlib.import_module`.
Georg Brandl48367812008-12-05 15:55:41 +00001765
Benjamin Peterson6ebe78f2008-12-21 00:06:59 +00001766 The function imports the module *name*, potentially using the given *globals*
1767 and *locals* to determine how to interpret the name in a package context.
1768 The *fromlist* gives the names of objects or submodules that should be
1769 imported from the module given by *name*. The standard implementation does
1770 not use its *locals* argument at all, and uses its *globals* only to
1771 determine the package context of the :keyword:`import` statement.
1772
Brett Cannon2b9fd472009-03-15 02:18:41 +00001773 *level* specifies whether to use absolute or relative imports. ``0`` (the
1774 default) means only perform absolute imports. Positive values for
Benjamin Peterson6ebe78f2008-12-21 00:06:59 +00001775 *level* indicate the number of parent directories to search relative to the
Brett Cannon2a082ad2012-04-14 21:58:33 -04001776 directory of the module calling :func:`__import__` (see :pep:`328` for the
1777 details).
Georg Brandl48367812008-12-05 15:55:41 +00001778
1779 When the *name* variable is of the form ``package.module``, normally, the
1780 top-level package (the name up till the first dot) is returned, *not* the
1781 module named by *name*. However, when a non-empty *fromlist* argument is
Benjamin Peterson6ebe78f2008-12-21 00:06:59 +00001782 given, the module named by *name* is returned.
Georg Brandl48367812008-12-05 15:55:41 +00001783
Benjamin Peterson6ebe78f2008-12-21 00:06:59 +00001784 For example, the statement ``import spam`` results in bytecode resembling the
1785 following code::
Georg Brandl48310cd2009-01-03 21:18:54 +00001786
Brett Cannon2b9fd472009-03-15 02:18:41 +00001787 spam = __import__('spam', globals(), locals(), [], 0)
Georg Brandl48367812008-12-05 15:55:41 +00001788
Benjamin Peterson6ebe78f2008-12-21 00:06:59 +00001789 The statement ``import spam.ham`` results in this call::
Georg Brandl48367812008-12-05 15:55:41 +00001790
Brett Cannon2b9fd472009-03-15 02:18:41 +00001791 spam = __import__('spam.ham', globals(), locals(), [], 0)
Benjamin Peterson6ebe78f2008-12-21 00:06:59 +00001792
1793 Note how :func:`__import__` returns the toplevel module here because this is
1794 the object that is bound to a name by the :keyword:`import` statement.
1795
1796 On the other hand, the statement ``from spam.ham import eggs, sausage as
1797 saus`` results in ::
1798
Brett Cannon2b9fd472009-03-15 02:18:41 +00001799 _temp = __import__('spam.ham', globals(), locals(), ['eggs', 'sausage'], 0)
Benjamin Peterson6ebe78f2008-12-21 00:06:59 +00001800 eggs = _temp.eggs
1801 saus = _temp.sausage
1802
1803 Here, the ``spam.ham`` module is returned from :func:`__import__`. From this
1804 object, the names to import are retrieved and assigned to their respective
1805 names.
1806
1807 If you simply want to import a module (potentially within a package) by name,
Éric Araujoe801aa22011-07-29 17:50:58 +02001808 use :func:`importlib.import_module`.
Benjamin Peterson6ebe78f2008-12-21 00:06:59 +00001809
Brett Cannon73df3642012-07-30 18:35:17 -04001810 .. versionchanged:: 3.3
Brett Cannon222d4732012-08-05 20:49:53 -04001811 Negative values for *level* are no longer supported (which also changes
1812 the default value to 0).
Brett Cannon73df3642012-07-30 18:35:17 -04001813
Georg Brandl48367812008-12-05 15:55:41 +00001814
Georg Brandl116aa622007-08-15 14:28:22 +00001815.. rubric:: Footnotes
1816
Georg Brandl47f27a32009-03-31 16:57:13 +00001817.. [#] Note that the parser only accepts the Unix-style end of line convention.
1818 If you are reading the code from a file, make sure to use newline conversion
1819 mode to convert Windows or Mac-style newlines.