.. _glossary: ******** Glossary ******** .. if you add new entries, keep the alphabetical sorting! .. glossary:: ``>>>`` The typical Python prompt of the interactive shell. Often seen for code examples that can be tried right away in the interpreter. ``...`` The typical Python prompt of the interactive shell when entering code for an indented code block. argument A value passed to a function or method, assigned to a name local to the body. A function or method may have both positional arguments and keyword arguments in its definition. Positional and keyword arguments may be variable-length: ``*`` accepts or passes (if in the function definition or call) several positional arguments in a list, while ``**`` does the same for keyword arguments in a dictionary. Any expression may be used within the argument list, and the evaluated value is passed to the local variable. BDFL Benevolent Dictator For Life, a.k.a. `Guido van Rossum `_, Python's creator. bytecode Python source code is compiled into bytecode, the internal representation of a Python program in the interpreter. The bytecode is also cached in ``.pyc`` and ``.pyo`` files so that executing the same file is faster the second time (recompilation from source to bytecode can be avoided). This "intermediate language" is said to run on a "virtual machine" that calls the subroutines corresponding to each bytecode. classic class One of the two flavors of classes in earlier Python versions. Since Python 3.0, there are no classic classes anymore. complex number An extension of the familiar real number system in which all numbers are expressed as a sum of a real part and an imaginary part. Imaginary numbers are real multiples of the imaginary unit (the square root of ``-1``), often written ``i`` in mathematics or ``j`` in engineering. Python has builtin support for complex numbers, which are written with this latter notation; the imaginary part is written with a ``j`` suffix, e.g., ``3+1j``. To get access to complex equivalents of the :mod:`math` module, use :mod:`cmath`. Use of complex numbers is a fairly advanced mathematical feature. If you're not aware of a need for them, it's almost certain you can safely ignore them. decorator A function returning another function, usually applied as a function transformation using the ``@wrapper`` syntax. Common examples for decorators are :func:`classmethod` and :func:`staticmethod`. The decorator syntax is merely syntactic sugar, the following two function definitions are semantically equivalent:: def f(...): ... f = staticmethod(f) @staticmethod def f(...): ... descriptor An object that defines the methods :meth:`__get__`, :meth:`__set__`, or :meth:`__delete__`. When a class attribute is a descriptor, its special binding behavior is triggered upon attribute lookup. Normally, using *a.b* to get, set or delete an attribute looks up the object named *b* in the class dictionary for *a*, but if *b* is a descriptor, the respective descriptor method gets called. Understanding descriptors is a key to a deep understanding of Python because they are the basis for many features including functions, methods, properties, class methods, static methods, and reference to super classes. For more information about descriptors' methods, see :ref:`descriptors`. dictionary An associative array, where arbitrary keys are mapped to values. The use of :class:`dict` much resembles that for :class:`list`, but the keys can be any object with a :meth:`__hash__` function, not just integers starting from zero. Called a hash in Perl. duck-typing Pythonic programming style that determines an object's type by inspection of its method or attribute signature rather than by explicit relationship to some type object ("If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck.") By emphasizing interfaces rather than specific types, well-designed code improves its flexibility by allowing polymorphic substitution. Duck-typing avoids tests using :func:`type` or :func:`isinstance`. Instead, it typically employs :func:`hasattr` tests or :term:`EAFP` programming. EAFP Easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. This common Python coding style assumes the existence of valid keys or attributes and catches exceptions if the assumption proves false. This clean and fast style is characterized by the presence of many :keyword:`try` and :keyword:`except` statements. The technique contrasts with the :term:`LBYL` style that is common in many other languages such as C. expression A piece of syntax which can be evaluated to some value. In other words, an expression is an accumulation of expression elements like literals, names, attribute access, operators or function calls that all return a value. In contrast to other languages, not all language constructs are expressions, but there are also :term:`statement`\s that cannot be used as expressions, such as :keyword:`print` or :keyword:`if`. Assignments are also not expressions. extension module A module written in C, using Python's C API to interact with the core and with user code. function A series of statements which returns some value to a caller. It can also be passed zero or more arguments which may be used in the execution of the body. See also :term:`argument` and :term:`method`. __future__ A pseudo module which programmers can use to enable new language features which are not compatible with the current interpreter. For example, the expression ``11/4`` currently evaluates to ``2``. If the module in which it is executed had enabled *true division* by executing:: from __future__ import division the expression ``11/4`` would evaluate to ``2.75``. By importing the :mod:`__future__` module and evaluating its variables, you can see when a new feature was first added to the language and when it will become the default:: >>> import __future__ >>> __future__.division _Feature((2, 2, 0, 'alpha', 2), (3, 0, 0, 'alpha', 0), 8192) garbage collection The process of freeing memory when it is not used anymore. Python performs garbage collection via reference counting and a cyclic garbage collector that is able to detect and break reference cycles. generator A function that returns an iterator. It looks like a normal function except that values are returned to the caller using a :keyword:`yield` statement instead of a :keyword:`return` statement. Generator functions often contain one or more :keyword:`for` or :keyword:`while` loops that :keyword:`yield` elements back to the caller. The function execution is stopped at the :keyword:`yield` keyword (returning the result) and is resumed there when the next element is requested by calling the :meth:`next` method of the returned iterator. .. index:: single: generator expression generator expression An expression that returns a generator. It looks like a normal expression followed by a :keyword:`for` expression defining a loop variable, range, and an optional :keyword:`if` expression. The combined expression generates values for an enclosing function:: >>> sum(i*i for i in range(10)) # sum of squares 0, 1, 4, ... 81 285 GIL See :term:`global interpreter lock`. global interpreter lock The lock used by Python threads to assure that only one thread can be run at a time. This simplifies Python by assuring that no two processes can access the same memory at the same time. Locking the entire interpreter makes it easier for the interpreter to be multi-threaded, at the expense of some parallelism on multi-processor machines. Efforts have been made in the past to create a "free-threaded" interpreter (one which locks shared data at a much finer granularity), but performance suffered in the common single-processor case. hashable An object is *hashable* if it has a hash value that never changes during its lifetime (it needs a :meth:`__hash__` method), and can be compared to other objects (it needs an :meth:`__eq__` or :meth:`__cmp__` method). Hashable objects that compare equal must have the same hash value. Hashability makes an object usable as a dictionary key and a set member, because these data structures use the hash value internally. All of Python's immutable built-in objects are hashable, while all mutable containers (such as lists or dictionaries) are not. Objects that are instances of user-defined classes are hashable by default; they all compare unequal, and their hash value is their :func:`id`. IDLE An Integrated Development Environment for Python. IDLE is a basic editor and interpreter environment that ships with the standard distribution of Python. Good for beginners, it also serves as clear example code for those wanting to implement a moderately sophisticated, multi-platform GUI application. immutable An object with fixed value. Immutable objects are numbers, strings or tuples (and more). Such an object cannot be altered. A new object has to be created if a different value has to be stored. They play an important role in places where a constant hash value is needed, for example as a key in a dictionary. integer division Mathematical division discarding any remainder. For example, the expression ``11/4`` currently evaluates to ``2`` in contrast to the ``2.75`` returned by float division. Also called *floor division*. When dividing two integers the outcome will always be another integer (having the floor function applied to it). However, if the operands types are different, one of them will be converted to the other's type. For example, an integer divided by a float will result in a float value, possibly with a decimal fraction. Integer division can be forced by using the ``//`` operator instead of the ``/`` operator. See also :term:`__future__`. interactive Python has an interactive interpreter which means that you can try out things and immediately see their results. Just launch ``python`` with no arguments (possibly by selecting it from your computer's main menu). It is a very powerful way to test out new ideas or inspect modules and packages (remember ``help(x)``). interpreted Python is an interpreted language, as opposed to a compiled one. This means that the source files can be run directly without first creating an executable which is then run. Interpreted languages typically have a shorter development/debug cycle than compiled ones, though their programs generally also run more slowly. See also :term:`interactive`. iterable A container object capable of returning its members one at a time. Examples of iterables include all sequence types (such as :class:`list`, :class:`str`, and :class:`tuple`) and some non-sequence types like :class:`dict` and :class:`file` and objects of any classes you define with an :meth:`__iter__` or :meth:`__getitem__` method. Iterables can be used in a :keyword:`for` loop and in many other places where a sequence is needed (:func:`zip`, :func:`map`, ...). When an iterable object is passed as an argument to the builtin function :func:`iter`, it returns an iterator for the object. This iterator is good for one pass over the set of values. When using iterables, it is usually not necessary to call :func:`iter` or deal with iterator objects yourself. The ``for`` statement does that automatically for you, creating a temporary unnamed variable to hold the iterator for the duration of the loop. See also :term:`iterator`, :term:`sequence`, and :term:`generator`. iterator An object representing a stream of data. Repeated calls to the iterator's :meth:`next` method return successive items in the stream. When no more data is available a :exc:`StopIteration` exception is raised instead. At this point, the iterator object is exhausted and any further calls to its :meth:`next` method just raise :exc:`StopIteration` again. Iterators are required to have an :meth:`__iter__` method that returns the iterator object itself so every iterator is also iterable and may be used in most places where other iterables are accepted. One notable exception is code that attempts multiple iteration passes. A container object (such as a :class:`list`) produces a fresh new iterator each time you pass it to the :func:`iter` function or use it in a :keyword:`for` loop. Attempting this with an iterator will just return the same exhausted iterator object used in the previous iteration pass, making it appear like an empty container. More information can be found in :ref:`typeiter`. keyword argument Arguments which are preceded with a ``variable_name=`` in the call. The variable name designates the local name in the function to which the value is assigned. ``**`` is used to accept or pass a dictionary of keyword arguments. See :term:`argument`. lambda An anonymous inline function consisting of a single :term:`expression` which is evaluated when the function is called. The syntax to create a lambda function is ``lambda [arguments]: expression`` LBYL Look before you leap. This coding style explicitly tests for pre-conditions before making calls or lookups. This style contrasts with the :term:`EAFP` approach and is characterized by the presence of many :keyword:`if` statements. list comprehension A compact way to process all or a subset of elements in a sequence and return a list with the results. ``result = ["0x%02x" % x for x in range(256) if x % 2 == 0]`` generates a list of strings containing hex numbers (0x..) that are even and in the range from 0 to 255. The :keyword:`if` clause is optional. If omitted, all elements in ``range(256)`` are processed. mapping A container object (such as :class:`dict`) that supports arbitrary key lookups using the special method :meth:`__getitem__`. metaclass The class of a class. Class definitions create a class name, a class dictionary, and a list of base classes. The metaclass is responsible for taking those three arguments and creating the class. Most object oriented programming languages provide a default implementation. What makes Python special is that it is possible to create custom metaclasses. Most users never need this tool, but when the need arises, metaclasses can provide powerful, elegant solutions. They have been used for logging attribute access, adding thread-safety, tracking object creation, implementing singletons, and many other tasks. More information can be found in :ref:`metaclasses`. method A function that is defined inside a class body. If called as an attribute of an instance of that class, the method will get the instance object as its first :term:`argument` (which is usually called ``self``). See :term:`function` and :term:`nested scope`. mutable Mutable objects can change their value but keep their :func:`id`. See also :term:`immutable`. namespace The place where a variable is stored. Namespaces are implemented as dictionaries. There are the local, global and builtin namespaces as well as nested namespaces in objects (in methods). Namespaces support modularity by preventing naming conflicts. For instance, the functions :func:`builtins.open` and :func:`os.open` are distinguished by their namespaces. Namespaces also aid readability and maintainability by making it clear which module implements a function. For instance, writing :func:`random.seed` or :func:`itertools.izip` makes it clear that those functions are implemented by the :mod:`random` and :mod:`itertools` modules respectively. nested scope The ability to refer to a variable in an enclosing definition. For instance, a function defined inside another function can refer to variables in the outer function. Note that nested scopes work only for reference and not for assignment which will always write to the innermost scope. In contrast, local variables both read and write in the innermost scope. Likewise, global variables read and write to the global namespace. new-style class Old name for the flavor of classes now used for all class objects. In earlier Python versions, only new-style classes could use Python's newer, versatile features like :attr:`__slots__`, descriptors, properties, :meth:`__getattribute__`, class methods, and static methods. More information can be found in :ref:`newstyle`. positional argument The arguments assigned to local names inside a function or method, determined by the order in which they were given in the call. ``*`` is used to either accept multiple positional arguments (when in the definition), or pass several arguments as a list to a function. See :term:`argument`. Python 3000 Nickname for the next major Python version, 3.0 (coined long ago when the release of version 3 was something in the distant future.) Pythonic An idea or piece of code which closely follows the most common idioms of the Python language, rather than implementing code using concepts common in other languages. For example, a common idiom in Python is the :keyword:`for` loop structure; other languages don't have this easy keyword, so people use a numerical counter instead:: for i in range(len(food)): print food[i] As opposed to the cleaner, Pythonic method:: for piece in food: print piece reference count The number of places where a certain object is referenced to. When the reference count drops to zero, an object is deallocated. While reference counting is invisible on the Python code level, it is used on the implementation level to keep track of allocated memory. __slots__ A declaration inside a class that saves memory by pre-declaring space for instance attributes and eliminating instance dictionaries. Though popular, the technique is somewhat tricky to get right and is best reserved for rare cases where there are large numbers of instances in a memory-critical application. sequence An :term:`iterable` which supports efficient element access using integer indices via the :meth:`__getitem__` and :meth:`__len__` special methods. Some built-in sequence types are :class:`list`, :class:`str`, :class:`tuple`, and :class:`unicode`. Note that :class:`dict` also supports :meth:`__getitem__` and :meth:`__len__`, but is considered a mapping rather than a sequence because the lookups use arbitrary :term:`immutable` keys rather than integers. slice A list containing a portion of an indexed list-like object. A slice is created using the subscript notation, ``[]`` with colons between numbers when several are given, such as in ``variable_name[1:3:5]``. The bracket (subscript) notation uses :class:`slice` objects internally (or in older versions, :meth:`__getslice__` and :meth:`__setslice__`). statement A statement is part of a suite (a "block" of code). A statement is either an :term:`expression` or a one of several constructs with a keyword, such as :keyword:`if`, :keyword:`while` or :keyword:`print`. type The type of a Python object determines what kind of object it is; every object has a type. An object's type is accessible as its :attr:`__class__` attribute or can be retrieved with ``type(obj)``. Zen of Python Listing of Python design principles and philosophies that are helpful in understanding and using the language. The listing can be found by typing "``import this``" at the interactive prompt.