1.. XXX document all delegations to __special__ methods 2.. _built-in-funcs: 3 4Built-in Functions 5================== 6 7The Python interpreter has a number of functions and types built into it that 8are always available. They are listed here in alphabetical order. 9 10=================== ================= ================== ================ ==================== 11.. .. Built-in Functions .. .. 12=================== ================= ================== ================ ==================== 13:func:`abs` |func-dict|_ :func:`help` :func:`min` :func:`setattr` 14:func:`all` :func:`dir` :func:`hex` :func:`next` :func:`slice` 15:func:`any` :func:`divmod` :func:`id` :func:`object` :func:`sorted` 16:func:`ascii` :func:`enumerate` :func:`input` :func:`oct` :func:`staticmethod` 17:func:`bin` :func:`eval` :func:`int` :func:`open` |func-str|_ 18:func:`bool` :func:`exec` :func:`isinstance` :func:`ord` :func:`sum` 19:func:`bytearray` :func:`filter` :func:`issubclass` :func:`pow` :func:`super` 20:func:`bytes` :func:`float` :func:`iter` :func:`print` |func-tuple|_ 21:func:`callable` :func:`format` :func:`len` :func:`property` :func:`type` 22:func:`chr` |func-frozenset|_ |func-list|_ |func-range|_ :func:`vars` 23:func:`classmethod` :func:`getattr` :func:`locals` :func:`repr` :func:`zip` 24:func:`compile` :func:`globals` :func:`map` :func:`reversed` :func:`__import__` 25:func:`complex` :func:`hasattr` :func:`max` :func:`round` 26:func:`delattr` :func:`hash` |func-memoryview|_ |func-set|_ 27=================== ================= ================== ================ ==================== 28 29.. 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()`` 36.. |func-list| replace:: ``list()`` 37.. |func-str| replace:: ``str()`` 38.. |func-tuple| replace:: ``tuple()`` 39.. |func-range| replace:: ``range()`` 40 41 42.. function:: abs(x) 43 44 Return the absolute value of a number. The argument may be an 45 integer or a floating point number. If the argument is a complex number, its 46 magnitude is returned. 47 48 49.. function:: all(iterable) 50 51 Return ``True`` if all elements of the *iterable* are true (or if the iterable 52 is empty). Equivalent to:: 53 54 def all(iterable): 55 for element in iterable: 56 if not element: 57 return False 58 return True 59 60 61.. function:: any(iterable) 62 63 Return ``True`` if any element of the *iterable* is true. If the iterable 64 is empty, return ``False``. Equivalent to:: 65 66 def any(iterable): 67 for element in iterable: 68 if element: 69 return True 70 return False 71 72 73.. function:: ascii(object) 74 75 As :func:`repr`, return a string containing a printable representation of an 76 object, but escape the non-ASCII characters in the string returned by 77 :func:`repr` using ``\x``, ``\u`` or ``\U`` escapes. This generates a string 78 similar to that returned by :func:`repr` in Python 2. 79 80 81.. function:: bin(x) 82 83 Convert an integer number to a binary string. The result is a valid Python 84 expression. If *x* is not a Python :class:`int` object, it has to define an 85 :meth:`__index__` method that returns an integer. 86 87 88.. class:: bool([x]) 89 90 Return a Boolean value, i.e. one of ``True`` or ``False``. *x* is converted 91 using the standard :ref:`truth testing procedure <truth>`. If *x* is false 92 or omitted, this returns ``False``; otherwise it returns ``True``. The 93 :class:`bool` class is a subclass of :class:`int` (see :ref:`typesnumeric`). 94 It cannot be subclassed further. Its only instances are ``False`` and 95 ``True`` (see :ref:`bltin-boolean-values`). 96 97 .. index:: pair: Boolean; type 98 99 100.. _func-bytearray: 101.. class:: bytearray([source[, encoding[, errors]]]) 102 103 Return a new array of bytes. The :class:`bytearray` class is a mutable 104 sequence of integers in the range 0 <= x < 256. It has most of the usual 105 methods of mutable sequences, described in :ref:`typesseq-mutable`, as well 106 as most methods that the :class:`bytes` type has, see :ref:`bytes-methods`. 107 108 The optional *source* parameter can be used to initialize the array in a few 109 different ways: 110 111 * If it is a *string*, you must also give the *encoding* (and optionally, 112 *errors*) parameters; :func:`bytearray` then converts the string to 113 bytes using :meth:`str.encode`. 114 115 * If it is an *integer*, the array will have that size and will be 116 initialized with null bytes. 117 118 * If it is an object conforming to the *buffer* interface, a read-only buffer 119 of the object will be used to initialize the bytes array. 120 121 * If it is an *iterable*, it must be an iterable of integers in the range 122 ``0 <= x < 256``, which are used as the initial contents of the array. 123 124 Without an argument, an array of size 0 is created. 125 126 See also :ref:`binaryseq` and :ref:`typebytearray`. 127 128 129.. _func-bytes: 130.. class:: bytes([source[, encoding[, errors]]]) 131 132 Return a new "bytes" object, which is an immutable sequence of integers in 133 the range ``0 <= x < 256``. :class:`bytes` is an immutable version of 134 :class:`bytearray` -- it has the same non-mutating methods and the same 135 indexing and slicing behavior. 136 137 Accordingly, constructor arguments are interpreted as for :func:`bytearray`. 138 139 Bytes objects can also be created with literals, see :ref:`strings`. 140 141 See also :ref:`binaryseq`, :ref:`typebytes`, and :ref:`bytes-methods`. 142 143 144.. function:: callable(object) 145 146 Return :const:`True` if the *object* argument appears callable, 147 :const:`False` if not. If this returns true, it is still possible that a 148 call fails, but if it is false, calling *object* will never succeed. 149 Note that classes are callable (calling a class returns a new instance); 150 instances are callable if their class has a :meth:`__call__` method. 151 152 .. versionadded:: 3.2 153 This function was first removed in Python 3.0 and then brought back 154 in Python 3.2. 155 156 157.. function:: chr(i) 158 159 Return the string representing a character whose Unicode code point is the 160 integer *i*. For example, ``chr(97)`` returns the string ``'a'``, while 161 ``chr(8364)`` returns the string ``'€'``. This is the inverse of :func:`ord`. 162 163 The valid range for the argument is from 0 through 1,114,111 (0x10FFFF in 164 base 16). :exc:`ValueError` will be raised if *i* is outside that range. 165 166 167.. function:: classmethod(function) 168 169 Return a class method for *function*. 170 171 A class method receives the class as implicit first argument, just like an 172 instance method receives the instance. To declare a class method, use this 173 idiom:: 174 175 class C: 176 @classmethod 177 def f(cls, arg1, arg2, ...): ... 178 179 The ``@classmethod`` form is a function :term:`decorator` -- see the description 180 of function definitions in :ref:`function` for details. 181 182 It can be called either on the class (such as ``C.f()``) or on an instance (such 183 as ``C().f()``). The instance is ignored except for its class. If a class 184 method is called for a derived class, the derived class object is passed as the 185 implied first argument. 186 187 Class methods are different than C++ or Java static methods. If you want those, 188 see :func:`staticmethod` in this section. 189 190 For more information on class methods, consult the documentation on the standard 191 type hierarchy in :ref:`types`. 192 193 194.. function:: compile(source, filename, mode, flags=0, dont_inherit=False, optimize=-1) 195 196 Compile the *source* into a code or AST object. Code objects can be executed 197 by :func:`exec` or :func:`eval`. *source* can either be a normal string, a 198 byte string, or an AST object. Refer to the :mod:`ast` module documentation 199 for information on how to work with AST objects. 200 201 The *filename* argument should give the file from which the code was read; 202 pass some recognizable value if it wasn't read from a file (``'<string>'`` is 203 commonly used). 204 205 The *mode* argument specifies what kind of code must be compiled; it can be 206 ``'exec'`` if *source* consists of a sequence of statements, ``'eval'`` if it 207 consists of a single expression, or ``'single'`` if it consists of a single 208 interactive statement (in the latter case, expression statements that 209 evaluate to something other than ``None`` will be printed). 210 211 The optional arguments *flags* and *dont_inherit* control which future 212 statements (see :pep:`236`) affect the compilation of *source*. If neither 213 is present (or both are zero) the code is compiled with those future 214 statements that are in effect in the code that is calling :func:`compile`. If the 215 *flags* argument is given and *dont_inherit* is not (or is zero) then the 216 future statements specified by the *flags* argument are used in addition to 217 those that would be used anyway. If *dont_inherit* is a non-zero integer then 218 the *flags* argument is it -- the future statements in effect around the call 219 to compile are ignored. 220 221 Future statements are specified by bits which can be bitwise ORed together to 222 specify multiple statements. The bitfield required to specify a given feature 223 can be found as the :attr:`~__future__._Feature.compiler_flag` attribute on 224 the :class:`~__future__._Feature` instance in the :mod:`__future__` module. 225 226 The argument *optimize* specifies the optimization level of the compiler; the 227 default value of ``-1`` selects the optimization level of the interpreter as 228 given by :option:`-O` options. Explicit levels are ``0`` (no optimization; 229 ``__debug__`` is true), ``1`` (asserts are removed, ``__debug__`` is false) 230 or ``2`` (docstrings are removed too). 231 232 This function raises :exc:`SyntaxError` if the compiled source is invalid, 233 and :exc:`ValueError` if the source contains null bytes. 234 235 If you want to parse Python code into its AST representation, see 236 :func:`ast.parse`. 237 238 .. note:: 239 240 When compiling a string with multi-line code in ``'single'`` or 241 ``'eval'`` mode, input must be terminated by at least one newline 242 character. This is to facilitate detection of incomplete and complete 243 statements in the :mod:`code` module. 244 245 .. versionchanged:: 3.2 246 Allowed use of Windows and Mac newlines. Also input in ``'exec'`` mode 247 does not have to end in a newline anymore. Added the *optimize* parameter. 248 249 .. versionchanged:: 3.5 250 Previously, :exc:`TypeError` was raised when null bytes were encountered 251 in *source*. 252 253 254.. class:: complex([real[, imag]]) 255 256 Return a complex number with the value *real* + *imag*\*1j or convert a string 257 or number to a complex number. If the first parameter is a string, it will 258 be interpreted as a complex number and the function must be called without a 259 second parameter. The second parameter can never be a string. Each argument 260 may be any numeric type (including complex). If *imag* is omitted, it 261 defaults to zero and the constructor serves as a numeric conversion like 262 :class:`int` and :class:`float`. If both arguments are omitted, returns 263 ``0j``. 264 265 .. note:: 266 267 When converting from a string, the string must not contain whitespace 268 around the central ``+`` or ``-`` operator. For example, 269 ``complex('1+2j')`` is fine, but ``complex('1 + 2j')`` raises 270 :exc:`ValueError`. 271 272 The complex type is described in :ref:`typesnumeric`. 273 274 .. versionchanged:: 3.6 275 Grouping digits with underscores as in code literals is allowed. 276 277 278.. function:: delattr(object, name) 279 280 This is a relative of :func:`setattr`. The arguments are an object and a 281 string. The string must be the name of one of the object's attributes. The 282 function deletes the named attribute, provided the object allows it. For 283 example, ``delattr(x, 'foobar')`` is equivalent to ``del x.foobar``. 284 285 286.. _func-dict: 287.. class:: dict(**kwarg) 288 dict(mapping, **kwarg) 289 dict(iterable, **kwarg) 290 :noindex: 291 292 Create a new dictionary. The :class:`dict` object is the dictionary class. 293 See :class:`dict` and :ref:`typesmapping` for documentation about this class. 294 295 For other containers see the built-in :class:`list`, :class:`set`, and 296 :class:`tuple` classes, as well as the :mod:`collections` module. 297 298 299.. function:: dir([object]) 300 301 Without arguments, return the list of names in the current local scope. With an 302 argument, attempt to return a list of valid attributes for that object. 303 304 If the object has a method named :meth:`__dir__`, this method will be called and 305 must return the list of attributes. This allows objects that implement a custom 306 :func:`__getattr__` or :func:`__getattribute__` function to customize the way 307 :func:`dir` reports their attributes. 308 309 If the object does not provide :meth:`__dir__`, the function tries its best to 310 gather information from the object's :attr:`~object.__dict__` attribute, if defined, and 311 from its type object. The resulting list is not necessarily complete, and may 312 be inaccurate when the object has a custom :func:`__getattr__`. 313 314 The default :func:`dir` mechanism behaves differently with different types of 315 objects, as it attempts to produce the most relevant, rather than complete, 316 information: 317 318 * If the object is a module object, the list contains the names of the module's 319 attributes. 320 321 * If the object is a type or class object, the list contains the names of its 322 attributes, and recursively of the attributes of its bases. 323 324 * Otherwise, the list contains the object's attributes' names, the names of its 325 class's attributes, and recursively of the attributes of its class's base 326 classes. 327 328 The resulting list is sorted alphabetically. For example: 329 330 >>> import struct 331 >>> dir() # show the names in the module namespace 332 ['__builtins__', '__name__', 'struct'] 333 >>> dir(struct) # show the names in the struct module # doctest: +SKIP 334 ['Struct', '__all__', '__builtins__', '__cached__', '__doc__', '__file__', 335 '__initializing__', '__loader__', '__name__', '__package__', 336 '_clearcache', 'calcsize', 'error', 'pack', 'pack_into', 337 'unpack', 'unpack_from'] 338 >>> class Shape: 339 ... def __dir__(self): 340 ... return ['area', 'perimeter', 'location'] 341 >>> s = Shape() 342 >>> dir(s) 343 ['area', 'location', 'perimeter'] 344 345 .. note:: 346 347 Because :func:`dir` is supplied primarily as a convenience for use at an 348 interactive prompt, it tries to supply an interesting set of names more 349 than it tries to supply a rigorously or consistently defined set of names, 350 and its detailed behavior may change across releases. For example, 351 metaclass attributes are not in the result list when the argument is a 352 class. 353 354 355.. function:: divmod(a, b) 356 357 Take two (non complex) numbers as arguments and return a pair of numbers 358 consisting of their quotient and remainder when using integer division. With 359 mixed operand types, the rules for binary arithmetic operators apply. For 360 integers, the result is the same as ``(a // b, a % b)``. For floating point 361 numbers the result is ``(q, a % b)``, where *q* is usually ``math.floor(a / 362 b)`` but may be 1 less than that. In any case ``q * b + a % b`` is very 363 close to *a*, if ``a % b`` is non-zero it has the same sign as *b*, and ``0 364 <= abs(a % b) < abs(b)``. 365 366 367.. function:: enumerate(iterable, start=0) 368 369 Return an enumerate object. *iterable* must be a sequence, an 370 :term:`iterator`, or some other object which supports iteration. 371 The :meth:`~iterator.__next__` method of the iterator returned by 372 :func:`enumerate` returns a tuple containing a count (from *start* which 373 defaults to 0) and the values obtained from iterating over *iterable*. 374 375 >>> seasons = ['Spring', 'Summer', 'Fall', 'Winter'] 376 >>> list(enumerate(seasons)) 377 [(0, 'Spring'), (1, 'Summer'), (2, 'Fall'), (3, 'Winter')] 378 >>> list(enumerate(seasons, start=1)) 379 [(1, 'Spring'), (2, 'Summer'), (3, 'Fall'), (4, 'Winter')] 380 381 Equivalent to:: 382 383 def enumerate(sequence, start=0): 384 n = start 385 for elem in sequence: 386 yield n, elem 387 n += 1 388 389 390.. function:: eval(expression, globals=None, locals=None) 391 392 The arguments are a string and optional globals and locals. If provided, 393 *globals* must be a dictionary. If provided, *locals* can be any mapping 394 object. 395 396 The *expression* argument is parsed and evaluated as a Python expression 397 (technically speaking, a condition list) using the *globals* and *locals* 398 dictionaries as global and local namespace. If the *globals* dictionary is 399 present and lacks '__builtins__', the current globals are copied into *globals* 400 before *expression* is parsed. This means that *expression* normally has full 401 access to the standard :mod:`builtins` module and restricted environments are 402 propagated. If the *locals* dictionary is omitted it defaults to the *globals* 403 dictionary. If both dictionaries are omitted, the expression is executed in the 404 environment where :func:`eval` is called. The return value is the result of 405 the evaluated expression. Syntax errors are reported as exceptions. Example: 406 407 >>> x = 1 408 >>> eval('x+1') 409 2 410 411 This function can also be used to execute arbitrary code objects (such as 412 those created by :func:`compile`). In this case pass a code object instead 413 of a string. If the code object has been compiled with ``'exec'`` as the 414 *mode* argument, :func:`eval`\'s return value will be ``None``. 415 416 Hints: dynamic execution of statements is supported by the :func:`exec` 417 function. The :func:`globals` and :func:`locals` functions 418 returns the current global and local dictionary, respectively, which may be 419 useful to pass around for use by :func:`eval` or :func:`exec`. 420 421 See :func:`ast.literal_eval` for a function that can safely evaluate strings 422 with expressions containing only literals. 423 424.. index:: builtin: exec 425 426.. function:: exec(object[, globals[, locals]]) 427 428 This function supports dynamic execution of Python code. *object* must be 429 either a string or a code object. If it is a string, the string is parsed as 430 a suite of Python statements which is then executed (unless a syntax error 431 occurs). [#]_ If it is a code object, it is simply executed. In all cases, 432 the code that's executed is expected to be valid as file input (see the 433 section "File input" in the Reference Manual). Be aware that the 434 :keyword:`return` and :keyword:`yield` statements may not be used outside of 435 function definitions even within the context of code passed to the 436 :func:`exec` function. The return value is ``None``. 437 438 In all cases, if the optional parts are omitted, the code is executed in the 439 current scope. If only *globals* is provided, it must be a dictionary, which 440 will be used for both the global and the local variables. If *globals* and 441 *locals* are given, they are used for the global and local variables, 442 respectively. If provided, *locals* can be any mapping object. Remember 443 that at module level, globals and locals are the same dictionary. If exec 444 gets two separate objects as *globals* and *locals*, the code will be 445 executed as if it were embedded in a class definition. 446 447 If the *globals* dictionary does not contain a value for the key 448 ``__builtins__``, a reference to the dictionary of the built-in module 449 :mod:`builtins` is inserted under that key. That way you can control what 450 builtins are available to the executed code by inserting your own 451 ``__builtins__`` dictionary into *globals* before passing it to :func:`exec`. 452 453 .. note:: 454 455 The built-in functions :func:`globals` and :func:`locals` return the current 456 global and local dictionary, respectively, which may be useful to pass around 457 for use as the second and third argument to :func:`exec`. 458 459 .. note:: 460 461 The default *locals* act as described for function :func:`locals` below: 462 modifications to the default *locals* dictionary should not be attempted. 463 Pass an explicit *locals* dictionary if you need to see effects of the 464 code on *locals* after function :func:`exec` returns. 465 466 467.. function:: filter(function, iterable) 468 469 Construct an iterator from those elements of *iterable* for which *function* 470 returns true. *iterable* may be either a sequence, a container which 471 supports iteration, or an iterator. If *function* is ``None``, the identity 472 function is assumed, that is, all elements of *iterable* that are false are 473 removed. 474 475 Note that ``filter(function, iterable)`` is equivalent to the generator 476 expression ``(item for item in iterable if function(item))`` if function is 477 not ``None`` and ``(item for item in iterable if item)`` if function is 478 ``None``. 479 480 See :func:`itertools.filterfalse` for the complementary function that returns 481 elements of *iterable* for which *function* returns false. 482 483 484.. class:: float([x]) 485 486 .. index:: 487 single: NaN 488 single: Infinity 489 490 Return a floating point number constructed from a number or string *x*. 491 492 If the argument is a string, it should contain a decimal number, optionally 493 preceded by a sign, and optionally embedded in whitespace. The optional 494 sign may be ``'+'`` or ``'-'``; a ``'+'`` sign has no effect on the value 495 produced. The argument may also be a string representing a NaN 496 (not-a-number), or a positive or negative infinity. More precisely, the 497 input must conform to the following grammar after leading and trailing 498 whitespace characters are removed: 499 500 .. productionlist:: 501 sign: "+" | "-" 502 infinity: "Infinity" | "inf" 503 nan: "nan" 504 numeric_value: `floatnumber` | `infinity` | `nan` 505 numeric_string: [`sign`] `numeric_value` 506 507 Here ``floatnumber`` is the form of a Python floating-point literal, 508 described in :ref:`floating`. Case is not significant, so, for example, 509 "inf", "Inf", "INFINITY" and "iNfINity" are all acceptable spellings for 510 positive infinity. 511 512 Otherwise, if the argument is an integer or a floating point number, a 513 floating point number with the same value (within Python's floating point 514 precision) is returned. If the argument is outside the range of a Python 515 float, an :exc:`OverflowError` will be raised. 516 517 For a general Python object ``x``, ``float(x)`` delegates to 518 ``x.__float__()``. 519 520 If no argument is given, ``0.0`` is returned. 521 522 Examples:: 523 524 >>> float('+1.23') 525 1.23 526 >>> float(' -12345\n') 527 -12345.0 528 >>> float('1e-003') 529 0.001 530 >>> float('+1E6') 531 1000000.0 532 >>> float('-Infinity') 533 -inf 534 535 The float type is described in :ref:`typesnumeric`. 536 537 .. versionchanged:: 3.6 538 Grouping digits with underscores as in code literals is allowed. 539 540 541.. index:: 542 single: __format__ 543 single: string; format() (built-in function) 544 545.. function:: format(value[, format_spec]) 546 547 Convert a *value* to a "formatted" representation, as controlled by 548 *format_spec*. The interpretation of *format_spec* will depend on the type 549 of the *value* argument, however there is a standard formatting syntax that 550 is used by most built-in types: :ref:`formatspec`. 551 552 The default *format_spec* is an empty string which usually gives the same 553 effect as calling :func:`str(value) <str>`. 554 555 A call to ``format(value, format_spec)`` is translated to 556 ``type(value).__format__(value, format_spec)`` which bypasses the instance 557 dictionary when searching for the value's :meth:`__format__` method. A 558 :exc:`TypeError` exception is raised if the method search reaches 559 :mod:`object` and the *format_spec* is non-empty, or if either the 560 *format_spec* or the return value are not strings. 561 562 .. versionchanged:: 3.4 563 ``object().__format__(format_spec)`` raises :exc:`TypeError` 564 if *format_spec* is not an empty string. 565 566 567.. _func-frozenset: 568.. class:: frozenset([iterable]) 569 :noindex: 570 571 Return a new :class:`frozenset` object, optionally with elements taken from 572 *iterable*. ``frozenset`` is a built-in class. See :class:`frozenset` and 573 :ref:`types-set` for documentation about this class. 574 575 For other containers see the built-in :class:`set`, :class:`list`, 576 :class:`tuple`, and :class:`dict` classes, as well as the :mod:`collections` 577 module. 578 579 580.. function:: getattr(object, name[, default]) 581 582 Return the value of the named attribute of *object*. *name* must be a string. 583 If the string is the name of one of the object's attributes, the result is the 584 value of that attribute. For example, ``getattr(x, 'foobar')`` is equivalent to 585 ``x.foobar``. If the named attribute does not exist, *default* is returned if 586 provided, otherwise :exc:`AttributeError` is raised. 587 588 589.. function:: globals() 590 591 Return a dictionary representing the current global symbol table. This is always 592 the dictionary of the current module (inside a function or method, this is the 593 module where it is defined, not the module from which it is called). 594 595 596.. function:: hasattr(object, name) 597 598 The arguments are an object and a string. The result is ``True`` if the 599 string is the name of one of the object's attributes, ``False`` if not. (This 600 is implemented by calling ``getattr(object, name)`` and seeing whether it 601 raises an :exc:`AttributeError` or not.) 602 603 604.. function:: hash(object) 605 606 Return the hash value of the object (if it has one). Hash values are 607 integers. They are used to quickly compare dictionary keys during a 608 dictionary lookup. Numeric values that compare equal have the same hash 609 value (even if they are of different types, as is the case for 1 and 1.0). 610 611 .. note:: 612 613 For object's with custom :meth:`__hash__` methods, note that :func:`hash` 614 truncates the return value based on the bit width of the host machine. 615 See :meth:`__hash__` for details. 616 617.. function:: help([object]) 618 619 Invoke the built-in help system. (This function is intended for interactive 620 use.) If no argument is given, the interactive help system starts on the 621 interpreter console. If the argument is a string, then the string is looked up 622 as the name of a module, function, class, method, keyword, or documentation 623 topic, and a help page is printed on the console. If the argument is any other 624 kind of object, a help page on the object is generated. 625 626 This function is added to the built-in namespace by the :mod:`site` module. 627 628 .. versionchanged:: 3.4 629 Changes to :mod:`pydoc` and :mod:`inspect` mean that the reported 630 signatures for callables are now more comprehensive and consistent. 631 632 633.. function:: hex(x) 634 635 Convert an integer number to a lowercase hexadecimal string 636 prefixed with "0x", for example: 637 638 >>> hex(255) 639 '0xff' 640 >>> hex(-42) 641 '-0x2a' 642 643 If x is not a Python :class:`int` object, it has to define an __index__() 644 method that returns an integer. 645 646 See also :func:`int` for converting a hexadecimal string to an 647 integer using a base of 16. 648 649 .. note:: 650 651 To obtain a hexadecimal string representation for a float, use the 652 :meth:`float.hex` method. 653 654 655.. function:: id(object) 656 657 Return the "identity" of an object. This is an integer which 658 is guaranteed to be unique and constant for this object during its lifetime. 659 Two objects with non-overlapping lifetimes may have the same :func:`id` 660 value. 661 662 .. impl-detail:: This is the address of the object in memory. 663 664 665.. function:: input([prompt]) 666 667 If the *prompt* argument is present, it is written to standard output without 668 a trailing newline. The function then reads a line from input, converts it 669 to a string (stripping a trailing newline), and returns that. When EOF is 670 read, :exc:`EOFError` is raised. Example:: 671 672 >>> s = input('--> ') # doctest: +SKIP 673 --> Monty Python's Flying Circus 674 >>> s # doctest: +SKIP 675 "Monty Python's Flying Circus" 676 677 If the :mod:`readline` module was loaded, then :func:`input` will use it 678 to provide elaborate line editing and history features. 679 680 681.. class:: int(x=0) 682 int(x, base=10) 683 684 Return an integer object constructed from a number or string *x*, or return 685 ``0`` if no arguments are given. If *x* is a number, return 686 :meth:`x.__int__() <object.__int__>`. For floating point numbers, this 687 truncates towards zero. 688 689 If *x* is not a number or if *base* is given, then *x* must be a string, 690 :class:`bytes`, or :class:`bytearray` instance representing an :ref:`integer 691 literal <integers>` in radix *base*. Optionally, the literal can be 692 preceded by ``+`` or ``-`` (with no space in between) and surrounded by 693 whitespace. A base-n literal consists of the digits 0 to n-1, with ``a`` 694 to ``z`` (or ``A`` to ``Z``) having 695 values 10 to 35. The default *base* is 10. The allowed values are 0 and 2--36. 696 Base-2, -8, and -16 literals can be optionally prefixed with ``0b``/``0B``, 697 ``0o``/``0O``, or ``0x``/``0X``, as with integer literals in code. Base 0 698 means to interpret exactly as a code literal, so that the actual base is 2, 699 8, 10, or 16, and so that ``int('010', 0)`` is not legal, while 700 ``int('010')`` is, as well as ``int('010', 8)``. 701 702 The integer type is described in :ref:`typesnumeric`. 703 704 .. versionchanged:: 3.4 705 If *base* is not an instance of :class:`int` and the *base* object has a 706 :meth:`base.__index__ <object.__index__>` method, that method is called 707 to obtain an integer for the base. Previous versions used 708 :meth:`base.__int__ <object.__int__>` instead of :meth:`base.__index__ 709 <object.__index__>`. 710 711 .. versionchanged:: 3.6 712 Grouping digits with underscores as in code literals is allowed. 713 714 715.. function:: isinstance(object, classinfo) 716 717 Return true if the *object* argument is an instance of the *classinfo* 718 argument, or of a (direct, indirect or :term:`virtual <abstract base 719 class>`) subclass thereof. If *object* is not 720 an object of the given type, the function always returns false. 721 If *classinfo* is a tuple of type objects (or recursively, other such 722 tuples), return true if *object* is an instance of any of the types. 723 If *classinfo* is not a type or tuple of types and such tuples, 724 a :exc:`TypeError` exception is raised. 725 726 727.. function:: issubclass(class, classinfo) 728 729 Return true if *class* is a subclass (direct, indirect or :term:`virtual 730 <abstract base class>`) of *classinfo*. A 731 class is considered a subclass of itself. *classinfo* may be a tuple of class 732 objects, in which case every entry in *classinfo* will be checked. In any other 733 case, a :exc:`TypeError` exception is raised. 734 735 736.. function:: iter(object[, sentinel]) 737 738 Return an :term:`iterator` object. The first argument is interpreted very 739 differently depending on the presence of the second argument. Without a 740 second argument, *object* must be a collection object which supports the 741 iteration protocol (the :meth:`__iter__` method), or it must support the 742 sequence protocol (the :meth:`__getitem__` method with integer arguments 743 starting at ``0``). If it does not support either of those protocols, 744 :exc:`TypeError` is raised. If the second argument, *sentinel*, is given, 745 then *object* must be a callable object. The iterator created in this case 746 will call *object* with no arguments for each call to its 747 :meth:`~iterator.__next__` method; if the value returned is equal to 748 *sentinel*, :exc:`StopIteration` will be raised, otherwise the value will 749 be returned. 750 751 See also :ref:`typeiter`. 752 753 One useful application of the second form of :func:`iter` is to read lines of 754 a file until a certain line is reached. The following example reads a file 755 until the :meth:`~io.TextIOBase.readline` method returns an empty string:: 756 757 with open('mydata.txt') as fp: 758 for line in iter(fp.readline, ''): 759 process_line(line) 760 761 762.. function:: len(s) 763 764 Return the length (the number of items) of an object. The argument may be a 765 sequence (such as a string, bytes, tuple, list, or range) or a collection 766 (such as a dictionary, set, or frozen set). 767 768 769.. _func-list: 770.. class:: list([iterable]) 771 :noindex: 772 773 Rather than being a function, :class:`list` is actually a mutable 774 sequence type, as documented in :ref:`typesseq-list` and :ref:`typesseq`. 775 776 777.. function:: locals() 778 779 Update and return a dictionary representing the current local symbol table. 780 Free variables are returned by :func:`locals` when it is called in function 781 blocks, but not in class blocks. 782 783 .. note:: 784 The contents of this dictionary should not be modified; changes may not 785 affect the values of local and free variables used by the interpreter. 786 787.. function:: map(function, iterable, ...) 788 789 Return an iterator that applies *function* to every item of *iterable*, 790 yielding the results. If additional *iterable* arguments are passed, 791 *function* must take that many arguments and is applied to the items from all 792 iterables in parallel. With multiple iterables, the iterator stops when the 793 shortest iterable is exhausted. For cases where the function inputs are 794 already arranged into argument tuples, see :func:`itertools.starmap`\. 795 796 797.. function:: max(iterable, *[, key, default]) 798 max(arg1, arg2, *args[, key]) 799 800 Return the largest item in an iterable or the largest of two or more 801 arguments. 802 803 If one positional argument is provided, it should be an :term:`iterable`. 804 The largest item in the iterable is returned. If two or more positional 805 arguments are provided, the largest of the positional arguments is 806 returned. 807 808 There are two optional keyword-only arguments. The *key* argument specifies 809 a one-argument ordering function like that used for :meth:`list.sort`. The 810 *default* argument specifies an object to return if the provided iterable is 811 empty. If the iterable is empty and *default* is not provided, a 812 :exc:`ValueError` is raised. 813 814 If multiple items are maximal, the function returns the first one 815 encountered. This is consistent with other sort-stability preserving tools 816 such as ``sorted(iterable, key=keyfunc, reverse=True)[0]`` and 817 ``heapq.nlargest(1, iterable, key=keyfunc)``. 818 819 .. versionadded:: 3.4 820 The *default* keyword-only argument. 821 822 823.. _func-memoryview: 824.. function:: memoryview(obj) 825 :noindex: 826 827 Return a "memory view" object created from the given argument. See 828 :ref:`typememoryview` for more information. 829 830 831.. function:: min(iterable, *[, key, default]) 832 min(arg1, arg2, *args[, key]) 833 834 Return the smallest item in an iterable or the smallest of two or more 835 arguments. 836 837 If one positional argument is provided, it should be an :term:`iterable`. 838 The smallest item in the iterable is returned. If two or more positional 839 arguments are provided, the smallest of the positional arguments is 840 returned. 841 842 There are two optional keyword-only arguments. The *key* argument specifies 843 a one-argument ordering function like that used for :meth:`list.sort`. The 844 *default* argument specifies an object to return if the provided iterable is 845 empty. If the iterable is empty and *default* is not provided, a 846 :exc:`ValueError` is raised. 847 848 If multiple items are minimal, the function returns the first one 849 encountered. This is consistent with other sort-stability preserving tools 850 such as ``sorted(iterable, key=keyfunc)[0]`` and ``heapq.nsmallest(1, 851 iterable, key=keyfunc)``. 852 853 .. versionadded:: 3.4 854 The *default* keyword-only argument. 855 856 857.. function:: next(iterator[, default]) 858 859 Retrieve the next item from the *iterator* by calling its 860 :meth:`~iterator.__next__` method. If *default* is given, it is returned 861 if the iterator is exhausted, otherwise :exc:`StopIteration` is raised. 862 863 864.. class:: object() 865 866 Return a new featureless object. :class:`object` is a base for all classes. 867 It has the methods that are common to all instances of Python classes. This 868 function does not accept any arguments. 869 870 .. note:: 871 872 :class:`object` does *not* have a :attr:`~object.__dict__`, so you can't 873 assign arbitrary attributes to an instance of the :class:`object` class. 874 875 876.. function:: oct(x) 877 878 Convert an integer number to an octal string. The result is a valid Python 879 expression. If *x* is not a Python :class:`int` object, it has to define an 880 :meth:`__index__` method that returns an integer. 881 882 883 .. index:: 884 single: file object; open() built-in function 885 886.. function:: open(file, mode='r', buffering=-1, encoding=None, errors=None, newline=None, closefd=True, opener=None) 887 888 Open *file* and return a corresponding :term:`file object`. If the file 889 cannot be opened, an :exc:`OSError` is raised. 890 891 *file* is a :term:`path-like object` giving the pathname (absolute or 892 relative to the current working directory) of the file to be opened or an 893 integer file descriptor of the file to be wrapped. (If a file descriptor is 894 given, it is closed when the returned I/O object is closed, unless *closefd* 895 is set to ``False``.) 896 897 *mode* is an optional string that specifies the mode in which the file is 898 opened. It defaults to ``'r'`` which means open for reading in text mode. 899 Other common values are ``'w'`` for writing (truncating the file if it 900 already exists), ``'x'`` for exclusive creation and ``'a'`` for appending 901 (which on *some* Unix systems, means that *all* writes append to the end of 902 the file regardless of the current seek position). In text mode, if 903 *encoding* is not specified the encoding used is platform dependent: 904 ``locale.getpreferredencoding(False)`` is called to get the current locale 905 encoding. (For reading and writing raw bytes use binary mode and leave 906 *encoding* unspecified.) The available modes are: 907 908 ========= =============================================================== 909 Character Meaning 910 ========= =============================================================== 911 ``'r'`` open for reading (default) 912 ``'w'`` open for writing, truncating the file first 913 ``'x'`` open for exclusive creation, failing if the file already exists 914 ``'a'`` open for writing, appending to the end of the file if it exists 915 ``'b'`` binary mode 916 ``'t'`` text mode (default) 917 ``'+'`` open a disk file for updating (reading and writing) 918 ``'U'`` :term:`universal newlines` mode (deprecated) 919 ========= =============================================================== 920 921 The default mode is ``'r'`` (open for reading text, synonym of ``'rt'``). 922 For binary read-write access, the mode ``'w+b'`` opens and truncates the file 923 to 0 bytes. ``'r+b'`` opens the file without truncation. 924 925 As mentioned in the :ref:`io-overview`, Python distinguishes between binary 926 and text I/O. Files opened in binary mode (including ``'b'`` in the *mode* 927 argument) return contents as :class:`bytes` objects without any decoding. In 928 text mode (the default, or when ``'t'`` is included in the *mode* argument), 929 the contents of the file are returned as :class:`str`, the bytes having been 930 first decoded using a platform-dependent encoding or using the specified 931 *encoding* if given. 932 933 .. note:: 934 935 Python doesn't depend on the underlying operating system's notion of text 936 files; all the processing is done by Python itself, and is therefore 937 platform-independent. 938 939 *buffering* is an optional integer used to set the buffering policy. Pass 0 940 to switch buffering off (only allowed in binary mode), 1 to select line 941 buffering (only usable in text mode), and an integer > 1 to indicate the size 942 in bytes of a fixed-size chunk buffer. When no *buffering* argument is 943 given, the default buffering policy works as follows: 944 945 * Binary files are buffered in fixed-size chunks; the size of the buffer is 946 chosen using a heuristic trying to determine the underlying device's "block 947 size" and falling back on :attr:`io.DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE`. On many systems, 948 the buffer will typically be 4096 or 8192 bytes long. 949 950 * "Interactive" text files (files for which :meth:`~io.IOBase.isatty` 951 returns ``True``) use line buffering. Other text files use the policy 952 described above for binary files. 953 954 *encoding* is the name of the encoding used to decode or encode the file. 955 This should only be used in text mode. The default encoding is platform 956 dependent (whatever :func:`locale.getpreferredencoding` returns), but any 957 :term:`text encoding` supported by Python 958 can be used. See the :mod:`codecs` module for 959 the list of supported encodings. 960 961 *errors* is an optional string that specifies how encoding and decoding 962 errors are to be handled—this cannot be used in binary mode. 963 A variety of standard error handlers are available 964 (listed under :ref:`error-handlers`), though any 965 error handling name that has been registered with 966 :func:`codecs.register_error` is also valid. The standard names 967 include: 968 969 * ``'strict'`` to raise a :exc:`ValueError` exception if there is 970 an encoding error. The default value of ``None`` has the same 971 effect. 972 973 * ``'ignore'`` ignores errors. Note that ignoring encoding errors 974 can lead to data loss. 975 976 * ``'replace'`` causes a replacement marker (such as ``'?'``) to be inserted 977 where there is malformed data. 978 979 * ``'surrogateescape'`` will represent any incorrect bytes as code 980 points in the Unicode Private Use Area ranging from U+DC80 to 981 U+DCFF. These private code points will then be turned back into 982 the same bytes when the ``surrogateescape`` error handler is used 983 when writing data. This is useful for processing files in an 984 unknown encoding. 985 986 * ``'xmlcharrefreplace'`` is only supported when writing to a file. 987 Characters not supported by the encoding are replaced with the 988 appropriate XML character reference ``&#nnn;``. 989 990 * ``'backslashreplace'`` replaces malformed data by Python's backslashed 991 escape sequences. 992 993 * ``'namereplace'`` (also only supported when writing) 994 replaces unsupported characters with ``\N{...}`` escape sequences. 995 996 .. index:: 997 single: universal newlines; open() built-in function 998 999 *newline* controls how :term:`universal newlines` mode works (it only 1000 applies to text mode). It can be ``None``, ``''``, ``'\n'``, ``'\r'``, and 1001 ``'\r\n'``. It works as follows: 1002 1003 * When reading input from the stream, if *newline* is ``None``, universal 1004 newlines mode is enabled. Lines in the input can end in ``'\n'``, 1005 ``'\r'``, or ``'\r\n'``, and these are translated into ``'\n'`` before 1006 being returned to the caller. If it is ``''``, universal newlines mode is 1007 enabled, but line endings are returned to the caller untranslated. If it 1008 has any of the other legal values, input lines are only terminated by the 1009 given string, and the line ending is returned to the caller untranslated. 1010 1011 * When writing output to the stream, if *newline* is ``None``, any ``'\n'`` 1012 characters written are translated to the system default line separator, 1013 :data:`os.linesep`. If *newline* is ``''`` or ``'\n'``, no translation 1014 takes place. If *newline* is any of the other legal values, any ``'\n'`` 1015 characters written are translated to the given string. 1016 1017 If *closefd* is ``False`` and a file descriptor rather than a filename was 1018 given, the underlying file descriptor will be kept open when the file is 1019 closed. If a filename is given *closefd* must be ``True`` (the default) 1020 otherwise an error will be raised. 1021 1022 A custom opener can be used by passing a callable as *opener*. The underlying 1023 file descriptor for the file object is then obtained by calling *opener* with 1024 (*file*, *flags*). *opener* must return an open file descriptor (passing 1025 :mod:`os.open` as *opener* results in functionality similar to passing 1026 ``None``). 1027 1028 The newly created file is :ref:`non-inheritable <fd_inheritance>`. 1029 1030 The following example uses the :ref:`dir_fd <dir_fd>` parameter of the 1031 :func:`os.open` function to open a file relative to a given directory:: 1032 1033 >>> import os 1034 >>> dir_fd = os.open('somedir', os.O_RDONLY) 1035 >>> def opener(path, flags): 1036 ... return os.open(path, flags, dir_fd=dir_fd) 1037 ... 1038 >>> with open('spamspam.txt', 'w', opener=opener) as f: 1039 ... print('This will be written to somedir/spamspam.txt', file=f) 1040 ... 1041 >>> os.close(dir_fd) # don't leak a file descriptor 1042 1043 The type of :term:`file object` returned by the :func:`open` function 1044 depends on the mode. When :func:`open` is used to open a file in a text 1045 mode (``'w'``, ``'r'``, ``'wt'``, ``'rt'``, etc.), it returns a subclass of 1046 :class:`io.TextIOBase` (specifically :class:`io.TextIOWrapper`). When used 1047 to open a file in a binary mode with buffering, the returned class is a 1048 subclass of :class:`io.BufferedIOBase`. The exact class varies: in read 1049 binary mode, it returns an :class:`io.BufferedReader`; in write binary and 1050 append binary modes, it returns an :class:`io.BufferedWriter`, and in 1051 read/write mode, it returns an :class:`io.BufferedRandom`. When buffering is 1052 disabled, the raw stream, a subclass of :class:`io.RawIOBase`, 1053 :class:`io.FileIO`, is returned. 1054 1055 .. index:: 1056 single: line-buffered I/O 1057 single: unbuffered I/O 1058 single: buffer size, I/O 1059 single: I/O control; buffering 1060 single: binary mode 1061 single: text mode 1062 module: sys 1063 1064 See also the file handling modules, such as, :mod:`fileinput`, :mod:`io` 1065 (where :func:`open` is declared), :mod:`os`, :mod:`os.path`, :mod:`tempfile`, 1066 and :mod:`shutil`. 1067 1068 .. versionchanged:: 1069 3.3 1070 1071 * The *opener* parameter was added. 1072 * The ``'x'`` mode was added. 1073 * :exc:`IOError` used to be raised, it is now an alias of :exc:`OSError`. 1074 * :exc:`FileExistsError` is now raised if the file opened in exclusive 1075 * creation mode (``'x'``) already exists. 1076 1077 .. versionchanged:: 1078 3.4 1079 1080 * The file is now non-inheritable. 1081 1082 .. deprecated-removed:: 3.4 4.0 1083 1084 The ``'U'`` mode. 1085 1086 .. versionchanged:: 1087 3.5 1088 1089 * If the system call is interrupted and the signal handler does not raise an 1090 exception, the function now retries the system call instead of raising an 1091 :exc:`InterruptedError` exception (see :pep:`475` for the rationale). 1092 * The ``'namereplace'`` error handler was added. 1093 1094 .. versionchanged:: 1095 3.6 1096 1097 * Support added to accept objects implementing :class:`os.PathLike`. 1098 * On Windows, opening a console buffer may return a subclass of 1099 :class:`io.RawIOBase` other than :class:`io.FileIO`. 1100 1101.. function:: ord(c) 1102 1103 Given a string representing one Unicode character, return an integer 1104 representing the Unicode code point of that character. For example, 1105 ``ord('a')`` returns the integer ``97`` and ``ord('€')`` (Euro sign) 1106 returns ``8364``. This is the inverse of :func:`chr`. 1107 1108 1109.. function:: pow(x, y[, z]) 1110 1111 Return *x* to the power *y*; if *z* is present, return *x* to the power *y*, 1112 modulo *z* (computed more efficiently than ``pow(x, y) % z``). The two-argument 1113 form ``pow(x, y)`` is equivalent to using the power operator: ``x**y``. 1114 1115 The arguments must have numeric types. With mixed operand types, the 1116 coercion rules for binary arithmetic operators apply. For :class:`int` 1117 operands, the result has the same type as the operands (after coercion) 1118 unless the second argument is negative; in that case, all arguments are 1119 converted to float and a float result is delivered. For example, ``10**2`` 1120 returns ``100``, but ``10**-2`` returns ``0.01``. If the second argument is 1121 negative, the third argument must be omitted. If *z* is present, *x* and *y* 1122 must be of integer types, and *y* must be non-negative. 1123 1124 1125.. function:: print(*objects, sep=' ', end='\\n', file=sys.stdout, flush=False) 1126 1127 Print *objects* to the text stream *file*, separated by *sep* and followed 1128 by *end*. *sep*, *end* and *file*, if present, must be given as keyword 1129 arguments. 1130 1131 All non-keyword arguments are converted to strings like :func:`str` does and 1132 written to the stream, separated by *sep* and followed by *end*. Both *sep* 1133 and *end* must be strings; they can also be ``None``, which means to use the 1134 default values. If no *objects* are given, :func:`print` will just write 1135 *end*. 1136 1137 The *file* argument must be an object with a ``write(string)`` method; if it 1138 is not present or ``None``, :data:`sys.stdout` will be used. Since printed 1139 arguments are converted to text strings, :func:`print` cannot be used with 1140 binary mode file objects. For these, use ``file.write(...)`` instead. 1141 1142 Whether output is buffered is usually determined by *file*, but if the 1143 *flush* keyword argument is true, the stream is forcibly flushed. 1144 1145 .. versionchanged:: 3.3 1146 Added the *flush* keyword argument. 1147 1148 1149.. class:: property(fget=None, fset=None, fdel=None, doc=None) 1150 1151 Return a property attribute. 1152 1153 *fget* is a function for getting an attribute value. *fset* is a function 1154 for setting an attribute value. *fdel* is a function for deleting an attribute 1155 value. And *doc* creates a docstring for the attribute. 1156 1157 A typical use is to define a managed attribute ``x``:: 1158 1159 class C: 1160 def __init__(self): 1161 self._x = None 1162 1163 def getx(self): 1164 return self._x 1165 1166 def setx(self, value): 1167 self._x = value 1168 1169 def delx(self): 1170 del self._x 1171 1172 x = property(getx, setx, delx, "I'm the 'x' property.") 1173 1174 If *c* is an instance of *C*, ``c.x`` will invoke the getter, 1175 ``c.x = value`` will invoke the setter and ``del c.x`` the deleter. 1176 1177 If given, *doc* will be the docstring of the property attribute. Otherwise, the 1178 property will copy *fget*'s docstring (if it exists). This makes it possible to 1179 create read-only properties easily using :func:`property` as a :term:`decorator`:: 1180 1181 class Parrot: 1182 def __init__(self): 1183 self._voltage = 100000 1184 1185 @property 1186 def voltage(self): 1187 """Get the current voltage.""" 1188 return self._voltage 1189 1190 The ``@property`` decorator turns the :meth:`voltage` method into a "getter" 1191 for a read-only attribute with the same name, and it sets the docstring for 1192 *voltage* to "Get the current voltage." 1193 1194 A property object has :attr:`~property.getter`, :attr:`~property.setter`, 1195 and :attr:`~property.deleter` methods usable as decorators that create a 1196 copy of the property with the corresponding accessor function set to the 1197 decorated function. This is best explained with an example:: 1198 1199 class C: 1200 def __init__(self): 1201 self._x = None 1202 1203 @property 1204 def x(self): 1205 """I'm the 'x' property.""" 1206 return self._x 1207 1208 @x.setter 1209 def x(self, value): 1210 self._x = value 1211 1212 @x.deleter 1213 def x(self): 1214 del self._x 1215 1216 This code is exactly equivalent to the first example. Be sure to give the 1217 additional functions the same name as the original property (``x`` in this 1218 case.) 1219 1220 The returned property object also has the attributes ``fget``, ``fset``, and 1221 ``fdel`` corresponding to the constructor arguments. 1222 1223 .. versionchanged:: 3.5 1224 The docstrings of property objects are now writeable. 1225 1226 1227.. _func-range: 1228.. function:: range(stop) 1229 range(start, stop[, step]) 1230 :noindex: 1231 1232 Rather than being a function, :class:`range` is actually an immutable 1233 sequence type, as documented in :ref:`typesseq-range` and :ref:`typesseq`. 1234 1235 1236.. function:: repr(object) 1237 1238 Return a string containing a printable representation of an object. For many 1239 types, this function makes an attempt to return a string that would yield an 1240 object with the same value when passed to :func:`eval`, otherwise the 1241 representation is a string enclosed in angle brackets that contains the name 1242 of the type of the object together with additional information often 1243 including the name and address of the object. A class can control what this 1244 function returns for its instances by defining a :meth:`__repr__` method. 1245 1246 1247.. function:: reversed(seq) 1248 1249 Return a reverse :term:`iterator`. *seq* must be an object which has 1250 a :meth:`__reversed__` method or supports the sequence protocol (the 1251 :meth:`__len__` method and the :meth:`__getitem__` method with integer 1252 arguments starting at ``0``). 1253 1254 1255.. function:: round(number[, ndigits]) 1256 1257 Return the floating point value *number* rounded to *ndigits* digits after 1258 the decimal point. If *ndigits* is omitted or is ``None``, it returns the 1259 nearest integer to its input. Delegates to ``number.__round__(ndigits)``. 1260 1261 For the built-in types supporting :func:`round`, values are rounded to the 1262 closest multiple of 10 to the power minus *ndigits*; if two multiples are 1263 equally close, rounding is done toward the even choice (so, for example, 1264 both ``round(0.5)`` and ``round(-0.5)`` are ``0``, and ``round(1.5)`` is 1265 ``2``). The return value is an integer if called with one argument, 1266 otherwise of the same type as *number*. 1267 1268 .. note:: 1269 1270 The behavior of :func:`round` for floats can be surprising: for example, 1271 ``round(2.675, 2)`` gives ``2.67`` instead of the expected ``2.68``. 1272 This is not a bug: it's a result of the fact that most decimal fractions 1273 can't be represented exactly as a float. See :ref:`tut-fp-issues` for 1274 more information. 1275 1276 1277.. _func-set: 1278.. class:: set([iterable]) 1279 :noindex: 1280 1281 Return a new :class:`set` object, optionally with elements taken from 1282 *iterable*. ``set`` is a built-in class. See :class:`set` and 1283 :ref:`types-set` for documentation about this class. 1284 1285 For other containers see the built-in :class:`frozenset`, :class:`list`, 1286 :class:`tuple`, and :class:`dict` classes, as well as the :mod:`collections` 1287 module. 1288 1289 1290.. function:: setattr(object, name, value) 1291 1292 This is the counterpart of :func:`getattr`. The arguments are an object, a 1293 string and an arbitrary value. The string may name an existing attribute or a 1294 new attribute. The function assigns the value to the attribute, provided the 1295 object allows it. For example, ``setattr(x, 'foobar', 123)`` is equivalent to 1296 ``x.foobar = 123``. 1297 1298 1299.. class:: slice(stop) 1300 slice(start, stop[, step]) 1301 1302 .. index:: single: Numerical Python 1303 1304 Return a :term:`slice` object representing the set of indices specified by 1305 ``range(start, stop, step)``. The *start* and *step* arguments default to 1306 ``None``. Slice objects have read-only data attributes :attr:`~slice.start`, 1307 :attr:`~slice.stop` and :attr:`~slice.step` which merely return the argument 1308 values (or their default). They have no other explicit functionality; 1309 however they are used by Numerical Python and other third party extensions. 1310 Slice objects are also generated when extended indexing syntax is used. For 1311 example: ``a[start:stop:step]`` or ``a[start:stop, i]``. See 1312 :func:`itertools.islice` for an alternate version that returns an iterator. 1313 1314 1315.. function:: sorted(iterable[, key][, reverse]) 1316 1317 Return a new sorted list from the items in *iterable*. 1318 1319 Has two optional arguments which must be specified as keyword arguments. 1320 1321 *key* specifies a function of one argument that is used to extract a comparison 1322 key from each list element: ``key=str.lower``. The default value is ``None`` 1323 (compare the elements directly). 1324 1325 *reverse* is a boolean value. If set to ``True``, then the list elements are 1326 sorted as if each comparison were reversed. 1327 1328 Use :func:`functools.cmp_to_key` to convert an old-style *cmp* function to a 1329 *key* function. 1330 1331 The built-in :func:`sorted` function is guaranteed to be stable. A sort is 1332 stable if it guarantees not to change the relative order of elements that 1333 compare equal --- this is helpful for sorting in multiple passes (for 1334 example, sort by department, then by salary grade). 1335 1336 For sorting examples and a brief sorting tutorial, see :ref:`sortinghowto`. 1337 1338.. function:: staticmethod(function) 1339 1340 Return a static method for *function*. 1341 1342 A static method does not receive an implicit first argument. To declare a static 1343 method, use this idiom:: 1344 1345 class C: 1346 @staticmethod 1347 def f(arg1, arg2, ...): ... 1348 1349 The ``@staticmethod`` form is a function :term:`decorator` -- see the 1350 description of function definitions in :ref:`function` for details. 1351 1352 It can be called either on the class (such as ``C.f()``) or on an instance (such 1353 as ``C().f()``). The instance is ignored except for its class. 1354 1355 Static methods in Python are similar to those found in Java or C++. Also see 1356 :func:`classmethod` for a variant that is useful for creating alternate class 1357 constructors. 1358 1359 For more information on static methods, consult the documentation on the 1360 standard type hierarchy in :ref:`types`. 1361 1362 .. index:: 1363 single: string; str() (built-in function) 1364 1365 1366.. _func-str: 1367.. class:: str(object='') 1368 str(object=b'', encoding='utf-8', errors='strict') 1369 :noindex: 1370 1371 Return a :class:`str` version of *object*. See :func:`str` for details. 1372 1373 ``str`` is the built-in string :term:`class`. For general information 1374 about strings, see :ref:`textseq`. 1375 1376 1377.. function:: sum(iterable[, start]) 1378 1379 Sums *start* and the items of an *iterable* from left to right and returns the 1380 total. *start* defaults to ``0``. The *iterable*'s items are normally numbers, 1381 and the start value is not allowed to be a string. 1382 1383 For some use cases, there are good alternatives to :func:`sum`. 1384 The preferred, fast way to concatenate a sequence of strings is by calling 1385 ``''.join(sequence)``. To add floating point values with extended precision, 1386 see :func:`math.fsum`\. To concatenate a series of iterables, consider using 1387 :func:`itertools.chain`. 1388 1389.. function:: super([type[, object-or-type]]) 1390 1391 Return a proxy object that delegates method calls to a parent or sibling 1392 class of *type*. This is useful for accessing inherited methods that have 1393 been overridden in a class. The search order is same as that used by 1394 :func:`getattr` except that the *type* itself is skipped. 1395 1396 The :attr:`~class.__mro__` attribute of the *type* lists the method 1397 resolution search order used by both :func:`getattr` and :func:`super`. The 1398 attribute is dynamic and can change whenever the inheritance hierarchy is 1399 updated. 1400 1401 If the second argument is omitted, the super object returned is unbound. If 1402 the second argument is an object, ``isinstance(obj, type)`` must be true. If 1403 the second argument is a type, ``issubclass(type2, type)`` must be true (this 1404 is useful for classmethods). 1405 1406 There are two typical use cases for *super*. In a class hierarchy with 1407 single inheritance, *super* can be used to refer to parent classes without 1408 naming them explicitly, thus making the code more maintainable. This use 1409 closely parallels the use of *super* in other programming languages. 1410 1411 The second use case is to support cooperative multiple inheritance in a 1412 dynamic execution environment. This use case is unique to Python and is 1413 not found in statically compiled languages or languages that only support 1414 single inheritance. This makes it possible to implement "diamond diagrams" 1415 where multiple base classes implement the same method. Good design dictates 1416 that this method have the same calling signature in every case (because the 1417 order of calls is determined at runtime, because that order adapts 1418 to changes in the class hierarchy, and because that order can include 1419 sibling classes that are unknown prior to runtime). 1420 1421 For both use cases, a typical superclass call looks like this:: 1422 1423 class C(B): 1424 def method(self, arg): 1425 super().method(arg) # This does the same thing as: 1426 # super(C, self).method(arg) 1427 1428 Note that :func:`super` is implemented as part of the binding process for 1429 explicit dotted attribute lookups such as ``super().__getitem__(name)``. 1430 It does so by implementing its own :meth:`__getattribute__` method for searching 1431 classes in a predictable order that supports cooperative multiple inheritance. 1432 Accordingly, :func:`super` is undefined for implicit lookups using statements or 1433 operators such as ``super()[name]``. 1434 1435 Also note that, aside from the zero argument form, :func:`super` is not 1436 limited to use inside methods. The two argument form specifies the 1437 arguments exactly and makes the appropriate references. The zero 1438 argument form only works inside a class definition, as the compiler fills 1439 in the necessary details to correctly retrieve the class being defined, 1440 as well as accessing the current instance for ordinary methods. 1441 1442 For practical suggestions on how to design cooperative classes using 1443 :func:`super`, see `guide to using super() 1444 <https://rhettinger.wordpress.com/2011/05/26/super-considered-super/>`_. 1445 1446 1447.. _func-tuple: 1448.. function:: tuple([iterable]) 1449 :noindex: 1450 1451 Rather than being a function, :class:`tuple` is actually an immutable 1452 sequence type, as documented in :ref:`typesseq-tuple` and :ref:`typesseq`. 1453 1454 1455.. class:: type(object) 1456 type(name, bases, dict) 1457 1458 .. index:: object: type 1459 1460 With one argument, return the type of an *object*. The return value is a 1461 type object and generally the same object as returned by 1462 :attr:`object.__class__ <instance.__class__>`. 1463 1464 The :func:`isinstance` built-in function is recommended for testing the type 1465 of an object, because it takes subclasses into account. 1466 1467 1468 With three arguments, return a new type object. This is essentially a 1469 dynamic form of the :keyword:`class` statement. The *name* string is the 1470 class name and becomes the :attr:`~definition.__name__` attribute; the *bases* 1471 tuple itemizes the base classes and becomes the :attr:`~class.__bases__` 1472 attribute; and the *dict* dictionary is the namespace containing definitions 1473 for class body and is copied to a standard dictionary to become the 1474 :attr:`~object.__dict__` attribute. For example, the following two 1475 statements create identical :class:`type` objects: 1476 1477 >>> class X: 1478 ... a = 1 1479 ... 1480 >>> X = type('X', (object,), dict(a=1)) 1481 1482 See also :ref:`bltin-type-objects`. 1483 1484 .. versionchanged:: 3.6 1485 Subclasses of :class:`type` which don't override ``type.__new__`` may no 1486 longer use the one-argument form to get the type of an object. 1487 1488.. function:: vars([object]) 1489 1490 Return the :attr:`~object.__dict__` attribute for a module, class, instance, 1491 or any other object with a :attr:`~object.__dict__` attribute. 1492 1493 Objects such as modules and instances have an updateable :attr:`~object.__dict__` 1494 attribute; however, other objects may have write restrictions on their 1495 :attr:`~object.__dict__` attributes (for example, classes use a 1496 :class:`types.MappingProxyType` to prevent direct dictionary updates). 1497 1498 Without an argument, :func:`vars` acts like :func:`locals`. Note, the 1499 locals dictionary is only useful for reads since updates to the locals 1500 dictionary are ignored. 1501 1502 1503.. function:: zip(*iterables) 1504 1505 Make an iterator that aggregates elements from each of the iterables. 1506 1507 Returns an iterator of tuples, where the *i*-th tuple contains 1508 the *i*-th element from each of the argument sequences or iterables. The 1509 iterator stops when the shortest input iterable is exhausted. With a single 1510 iterable argument, it returns an iterator of 1-tuples. With no arguments, 1511 it returns an empty iterator. Equivalent to:: 1512 1513 def zip(*iterables): 1514 # zip('ABCD', 'xy') --> Ax By 1515 sentinel = object() 1516 iterators = [iter(it) for it in iterables] 1517 while iterators: 1518 result = [] 1519 for it in iterators: 1520 elem = next(it, sentinel) 1521 if elem is sentinel: 1522 return 1523 result.append(elem) 1524 yield tuple(result) 1525 1526 The left-to-right evaluation order of the iterables is guaranteed. This 1527 makes possible an idiom for clustering a data series into n-length groups 1528 using ``zip(*[iter(s)]*n)``. This repeats the *same* iterator ``n`` times 1529 so that each output tuple has the result of ``n`` calls to the iterator. 1530 This has the effect of dividing the input into n-length chunks. 1531 1532 :func:`zip` should only be used with unequal length inputs when you don't 1533 care about trailing, unmatched values from the longer iterables. If those 1534 values are important, use :func:`itertools.zip_longest` instead. 1535 1536 :func:`zip` in conjunction with the ``*`` operator can be used to unzip a 1537 list:: 1538 1539 >>> x = [1, 2, 3] 1540 >>> y = [4, 5, 6] 1541 >>> zipped = zip(x, y) 1542 >>> list(zipped) 1543 [(1, 4), (2, 5), (3, 6)] 1544 >>> x2, y2 = zip(*zip(x, y)) 1545 >>> x == list(x2) and y == list(y2) 1546 True 1547 1548 1549.. function:: __import__(name, globals=None, locals=None, fromlist=(), level=0) 1550 1551 .. index:: 1552 statement: import 1553 module: imp 1554 1555 .. note:: 1556 1557 This is an advanced function that is not needed in everyday Python 1558 programming, unlike :func:`importlib.import_module`. 1559 1560 This function is invoked by the :keyword:`import` statement. It can be 1561 replaced (by importing the :mod:`builtins` module and assigning to 1562 ``builtins.__import__``) in order to change semantics of the 1563 :keyword:`import` statement, but doing so is **strongly** discouraged as it 1564 is usually simpler to use import hooks (see :pep:`302`) to attain the same 1565 goals and does not cause issues with code which assumes the default import 1566 implementation is in use. Direct use of :func:`__import__` is also 1567 discouraged in favor of :func:`importlib.import_module`. 1568 1569 The function imports the module *name*, potentially using the given *globals* 1570 and *locals* to determine how to interpret the name in a package context. 1571 The *fromlist* gives the names of objects or submodules that should be 1572 imported from the module given by *name*. The standard implementation does 1573 not use its *locals* argument at all, and uses its *globals* only to 1574 determine the package context of the :keyword:`import` statement. 1575 1576 *level* specifies whether to use absolute or relative imports. ``0`` (the 1577 default) means only perform absolute imports. Positive values for 1578 *level* indicate the number of parent directories to search relative to the 1579 directory of the module calling :func:`__import__` (see :pep:`328` for the 1580 details). 1581 1582 When the *name* variable is of the form ``package.module``, normally, the 1583 top-level package (the name up till the first dot) is returned, *not* the 1584 module named by *name*. However, when a non-empty *fromlist* argument is 1585 given, the module named by *name* is returned. 1586 1587 For example, the statement ``import spam`` results in bytecode resembling the 1588 following code:: 1589 1590 spam = __import__('spam', globals(), locals(), [], 0) 1591 1592 The statement ``import spam.ham`` results in this call:: 1593 1594 spam = __import__('spam.ham', globals(), locals(), [], 0) 1595 1596 Note how :func:`__import__` returns the toplevel module here because this is 1597 the object that is bound to a name by the :keyword:`import` statement. 1598 1599 On the other hand, the statement ``from spam.ham import eggs, sausage as 1600 saus`` results in :: 1601 1602 _temp = __import__('spam.ham', globals(), locals(), ['eggs', 'sausage'], 0) 1603 eggs = _temp.eggs 1604 saus = _temp.sausage 1605 1606 Here, the ``spam.ham`` module is returned from :func:`__import__`. From this 1607 object, the names to import are retrieved and assigned to their respective 1608 names. 1609 1610 If you simply want to import a module (potentially within a package) by name, 1611 use :func:`importlib.import_module`. 1612 1613 .. versionchanged:: 3.3 1614 Negative values for *level* are no longer supported (which also changes 1615 the default value to 0). 1616 1617 1618.. rubric:: Footnotes 1619 1620.. [#] Note that the parser only accepts the Unix-style end of line convention. 1621 If you are reading the code from a file, make sure to use newline conversion 1622 mode to convert Windows or Mac-style newlines. 1623