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Scope

Explore Python’s variable scope rules, focusing on the LEGB model which includes local, enclosed, global, and built-in scopes. Understand how to declare variables with global and nonlocal statements and why managing scope is critical for clean, readable code.

Introduction to scope

The scope of a name is the part of the program in which the name has meaning and can be used. Python’s scope rules are unusual because they follow an “LEGB rule”: Local, Enclosed, Global, Built-in.

To understand this rule, it helps to remember that:

  1. Variables are defined by being assigned a value.
  2. Functions/methods may be nested within other functions/ methods.

When dealing with the scope of ...