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  <section id="glossary">
<span id="id1"></span><h1>Glossary<a class="headerlink" href="#glossary" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h1>
<dl class="glossary">
<dt id="term-0"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&gt;&gt;&gt;</span></code><a class="headerlink" href="#term-0" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>The default Python prompt of the interactive shell.  Often seen for code
examples which can be executed interactively in the interpreter.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-..."><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">...</span></code><a class="headerlink" href="#term-..." title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>Can refer to:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>The default Python prompt of the interactive shell when entering the
code for an indented code block, when within a pair of matching left and
right delimiters (parentheses, square brackets, curly braces or triple
quotes), or after specifying a decorator.</p></li>
<li><p>The <a class="reference internal" href="library/constants.html#Ellipsis" title="Ellipsis"><code class="xref py py-const docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Ellipsis</span></code></a> built-in constant.</p></li>
</ul>
</dd>
<dt id="term-2to3">2to3<a class="headerlink" href="#term-2to3" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A tool that tries to convert Python 2.x code to Python 3.x code by
handling most of the incompatibilities which can be detected by parsing the
source and traversing the parse tree.</p>
<p>2to3 is available in the standard library as <a class="reference internal" href="library/2to3.html#module-lib2to3" title="lib2to3: The 2to3 library"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lib2to3</span></code></a>; a standalone
entry point is provided as <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Tools/scripts/2to3</span></code>.  See
<a class="reference internal" href="library/2to3.html#to3-reference"><span class="std std-ref">2to3 — Automated Python 2 to 3 code translation</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-abstract-base-class">abstract base class<a class="headerlink" href="#term-abstract-base-class" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>Abstract base classes complement <a class="reference internal" href="#term-duck-typing"><span class="xref std std-term">duck-typing</span></a> by
providing a way to define interfaces when other techniques like
<a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#hasattr" title="hasattr"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">hasattr()</span></code></a> would be clumsy or subtly wrong (for example with
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#special-lookup"><span class="std std-ref">magic methods</span></a>).  ABCs introduce virtual
subclasses, which are classes that don’t inherit from a class but are
still recognized by <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#isinstance" title="isinstance"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">isinstance()</span></code></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#issubclass" title="issubclass"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">issubclass()</span></code></a>; see the
<a class="reference internal" href="library/abc.html#module-abc" title="abc: Abstract base classes according to :pep:`3119`."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">abc</span></code></a> module documentation.  Python comes with many built-in ABCs for
data structures (in the <a class="reference internal" href="library/collections.abc.html#module-collections.abc" title="collections.abc: Abstract base classes for containers"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">collections.abc</span></code></a> module), numbers (in the
<a class="reference internal" href="library/numbers.html#module-numbers" title="numbers: Numeric abstract base classes (Complex, Real, Integral, etc.)."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">numbers</span></code></a> module), streams (in the <a class="reference internal" href="library/io.html#module-io" title="io: Core tools for working with streams."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">io</span></code></a> module), import finders
and loaders (in the <a class="reference internal" href="library/importlib.html#module-importlib.abc" title="importlib.abc: Abstract base classes related to import"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">importlib.abc</span></code></a> module).  You can create your own
ABCs with the <a class="reference internal" href="library/abc.html#module-abc" title="abc: Abstract base classes according to :pep:`3119`."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">abc</span></code></a> module.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-annotation">annotation<a class="headerlink" href="#term-annotation" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A label associated with a variable, a class
attribute or a function parameter or return value,
used by convention as a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-type-hint"><span class="xref std std-term">type hint</span></a>.</p>
<p>Annotations of local variables cannot be accessed at runtime, but
annotations of global variables, class attributes, and functions
are stored in the <code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__annotations__</span></code>
special attribute of modules, classes, and functions,
respectively.</p>
<p>See <a class="reference internal" href="#term-variable-annotation"><span class="xref std std-term">variable annotation</span></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="#term-function-annotation"><span class="xref std std-term">function annotation</span></a>, <span class="target" id="index-0"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0484/"><strong>PEP 484</strong></a>
and <span class="target" id="index-1"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0526/"><strong>PEP 526</strong></a>, which describe this functionality.
Also see <a class="reference internal" href="howto/annotations.html#annotations-howto"><span class="std std-ref">Annotations Best Practices</span></a>
for best practices on working with annotations.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-argument">argument<a class="headerlink" href="#term-argument" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A value passed to a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-function"><span class="xref std std-term">function</span></a> (or <a class="reference internal" href="#term-method"><span class="xref std std-term">method</span></a>) when calling the
function.  There are two kinds of argument:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><em class="dfn">keyword argument</em>: an argument preceded by an identifier (e.g.
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">name=</span></code>) in a function call or passed as a value in a dictionary
preceded by <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">**</span></code>.  For example, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">3</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">5</span></code> are both keyword
arguments in the following calls to <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#complex" title="complex"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">complex()</span></code></a>:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="nb">complex</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">real</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">imag</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="mi">5</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="nb">complex</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="o">**</span><span class="p">{</span><span class="s1">&#39;real&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;imag&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="mi">5</span><span class="p">})</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</li>
<li><p><em class="dfn">positional argument</em>: an argument that is not a keyword argument.
Positional arguments can appear at the beginning of an argument list
and/or be passed as elements of an <a class="reference internal" href="#term-iterable"><span class="xref std std-term">iterable</span></a> preceded by <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">*</span></code>.
For example, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">3</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">5</span></code> are both positional arguments in the
following calls:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="nb">complex</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">5</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="nb">complex</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="o">*</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">5</span><span class="p">))</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Arguments are assigned to the named local variables in a function body.
See the <a class="reference internal" href="reference/expressions.html#calls"><span class="std std-ref">Calls</span></a> section for the rules governing this assignment.
Syntactically, any expression can be used to represent an argument; the
evaluated value is assigned to the local variable.</p>
<p>See also the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-parameter"><span class="xref std std-term">parameter</span></a> glossary entry, the FAQ question on
<a class="reference internal" href="faq/programming.html#faq-argument-vs-parameter"><span class="std std-ref">the difference between arguments and parameters</span></a>, and <span class="target" id="index-2"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0362/"><strong>PEP 362</strong></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-asynchronous-context-manager">asynchronous context manager<a class="headerlink" href="#term-asynchronous-context-manager" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An object which controls the environment seen in an
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#async-with"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">async</span> <span class="pre">with</span></code></a> statement by defining <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__aenter__" title="object.__aenter__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__aenter__()</span></code></a> and
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__aexit__" title="object.__aexit__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__aexit__()</span></code></a> methods.  Introduced by <span class="target" id="index-3"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0492/"><strong>PEP 492</strong></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-asynchronous-generator">asynchronous generator<a class="headerlink" href="#term-asynchronous-generator" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A function which returns an <a class="reference internal" href="#term-asynchronous-generator-iterator"><span class="xref std std-term">asynchronous generator iterator</span></a>.  It
looks like a coroutine function defined with <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#async-def"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">async</span> <span class="pre">def</span></code></a> except
that it contains <a class="reference internal" href="reference/simple_stmts.html#yield"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">yield</span></code></a> expressions for producing a series of
values usable in an <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#async-for"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">async</span> <span class="pre">for</span></code></a> loop.</p>
<p>Usually refers to an asynchronous generator function, but may refer to an
<em>asynchronous generator iterator</em> in some contexts.  In cases where the
intended meaning isn’t clear, using the full terms avoids ambiguity.</p>
<p>An asynchronous generator function may contain <a class="reference internal" href="reference/expressions.html#await"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">await</span></code></a>
expressions as well as <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#async-for"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">async</span> <span class="pre">for</span></code></a>, and <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#async-with"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">async</span> <span class="pre">with</span></code></a>
statements.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-asynchronous-generator-iterator">asynchronous generator iterator<a class="headerlink" href="#term-asynchronous-generator-iterator" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An object created by a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-asynchronous-generator"><span class="xref std std-term">asynchronous generator</span></a> function.</p>
<p>This is an <a class="reference internal" href="#term-asynchronous-iterator"><span class="xref std std-term">asynchronous iterator</span></a> which when called using the
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__anext__" title="object.__anext__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__anext__()</span></code></a> method returns an awaitable object which will execute
the body of the asynchronous generator function until the next
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/simple_stmts.html#yield"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">yield</span></code></a> expression.</p>
<p>Each <a class="reference internal" href="reference/simple_stmts.html#yield"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">yield</span></code></a> temporarily suspends processing, remembering the
location execution state (including local variables and pending
try-statements).  When the <em>asynchronous generator iterator</em> effectively
resumes with another awaitable returned by <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__anext__" title="object.__anext__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__anext__()</span></code></a>, it
picks up where it left off.  See <span class="target" id="index-4"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0492/"><strong>PEP 492</strong></a> and <span class="target" id="index-5"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0525/"><strong>PEP 525</strong></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-asynchronous-iterable">asynchronous iterable<a class="headerlink" href="#term-asynchronous-iterable" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An object, that can be used in an <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#async-for"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">async</span> <span class="pre">for</span></code></a> statement.
Must return an <a class="reference internal" href="#term-asynchronous-iterator"><span class="xref std std-term">asynchronous iterator</span></a> from its
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__aiter__" title="object.__aiter__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__aiter__()</span></code></a> method.  Introduced by <span class="target" id="index-6"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0492/"><strong>PEP 492</strong></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-asynchronous-iterator">asynchronous iterator<a class="headerlink" href="#term-asynchronous-iterator" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An object that implements the <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__aiter__" title="object.__aiter__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__aiter__()</span></code></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__anext__" title="object.__anext__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__anext__()</span></code></a>
methods.  <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__anext__" title="object.__anext__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__anext__()</span></code></a> must return an <a class="reference internal" href="#term-awaitable"><span class="xref std std-term">awaitable</span></a> object.
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#async-for"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">async</span> <span class="pre">for</span></code></a> resolves the awaitables returned by an asynchronous
iterator’s <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__anext__" title="object.__anext__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__anext__()</span></code></a> method until it raises a
<a class="reference internal" href="library/exceptions.html#StopAsyncIteration" title="StopAsyncIteration"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">StopAsyncIteration</span></code></a> exception.  Introduced by <span class="target" id="index-7"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0492/"><strong>PEP 492</strong></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-attribute">attribute<a class="headerlink" href="#term-attribute" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A value associated with an object which is usually referenced by name
using dotted expressions.
For example, if an object <em>o</em> has an attribute
<em>a</em> it would be referenced as <em>o.a</em>.</p>
<p>It is possible to give an object an attribute whose name is not an
identifier as defined by <a class="reference internal" href="reference/lexical_analysis.html#identifiers"><span class="std std-ref">Identifiers and keywords</span></a>, for example using
<a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#setattr" title="setattr"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">setattr()</span></code></a>, if the object allows it.
Such an attribute will not be accessible using a dotted expression,
and would instead need to be retrieved with <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#getattr" title="getattr"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">getattr()</span></code></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-awaitable">awaitable<a class="headerlink" href="#term-awaitable" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An object that can be used in an <a class="reference internal" href="reference/expressions.html#await"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">await</span></code></a> expression.  Can be
a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-coroutine"><span class="xref std std-term">coroutine</span></a> or an object with an <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__await__" title="object.__await__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__await__()</span></code></a> method.
See also <span class="target" id="index-8"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0492/"><strong>PEP 492</strong></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-BDFL">BDFL<a class="headerlink" href="#term-BDFL" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>Benevolent Dictator For Life, a.k.a. <a class="reference external" href="https://gvanrossum.github.io/">Guido van Rossum</a>, Python’s creator.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-binary-file">binary file<a class="headerlink" href="#term-binary-file" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A <a class="reference internal" href="#term-file-object"><span class="xref std std-term">file object</span></a> able to read and write
<a class="reference internal" href="#term-bytes-like-object"><span class="xref std std-term">bytes-like objects</span></a>.
Examples of binary files are files opened in binary mode (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'rb'</span></code>,
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'wb'</span></code> or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'rb+'</span></code>), <a class="reference internal" href="library/sys.html#sys.stdin" title="sys.stdin"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.stdin.buffer</span></code></a>,
<a class="reference internal" href="library/sys.html#sys.stdout" title="sys.stdout"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.stdout.buffer</span></code></a>, and instances of
<a class="reference internal" href="library/io.html#io.BytesIO" title="io.BytesIO"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">io.BytesIO</span></code></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="library/gzip.html#gzip.GzipFile" title="gzip.GzipFile"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">gzip.GzipFile</span></code></a>.</p>
<p>See also <a class="reference internal" href="#term-text-file"><span class="xref std std-term">text file</span></a> for a file object able to read and write
<a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#str" title="str"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">str</span></code></a> objects.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-borrowed-reference">borrowed reference<a class="headerlink" href="#term-borrowed-reference" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>In Python’s C API, a borrowed reference is a reference to an object,
where the code using the object does not own the reference.
It becomes a dangling
pointer if the object is destroyed. For example, a garbage collection can
remove the last <a class="reference internal" href="#term-strong-reference"><span class="xref std std-term">strong reference</span></a> to the object and so destroy it.</p>
<p>Calling <a class="reference internal" href="c-api/refcounting.html#c.Py_INCREF" title="Py_INCREF"><code class="xref c c-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Py_INCREF()</span></code></a> on the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-borrowed-reference"><span class="xref std std-term">borrowed reference</span></a> is
recommended to convert it to a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-strong-reference"><span class="xref std std-term">strong reference</span></a> in-place, except
when the object cannot be destroyed before the last usage of the borrowed
reference. The <a class="reference internal" href="c-api/refcounting.html#c.Py_NewRef" title="Py_NewRef"><code class="xref c c-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Py_NewRef()</span></code></a> function can be used to create a new
<a class="reference internal" href="#term-strong-reference"><span class="xref std std-term">strong reference</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-bytes-like-object">bytes-like object<a class="headerlink" href="#term-bytes-like-object" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An object that supports the <a class="reference internal" href="c-api/buffer.html#bufferobjects"><span class="std std-ref">Buffer Protocol</span></a> and can
export a C-<a class="reference internal" href="#term-contiguous"><span class="xref std std-term">contiguous</span></a> buffer. This includes all <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#bytes" title="bytes"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bytes</span></code></a>,
<a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#bytearray" title="bytearray"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bytearray</span></code></a>, and <a class="reference internal" href="library/array.html#array.array" title="array.array"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">array.array</span></code></a> objects, as well as many
common <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#memoryview" title="memoryview"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">memoryview</span></code></a> objects.  Bytes-like objects can
be used for various operations that work with binary data; these include
compression, saving to a binary file, and sending over a socket.</p>
<p>Some operations need the binary data to be mutable.  The documentation
often refers to these as “read-write bytes-like objects”.  Example
mutable buffer objects include <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#bytearray" title="bytearray"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bytearray</span></code></a> and a
<a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#memoryview" title="memoryview"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">memoryview</span></code></a> of a <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#bytearray" title="bytearray"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bytearray</span></code></a>.
Other operations require the binary data to be stored in
immutable objects (“read-only bytes-like objects”); examples
of these include <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#bytes" title="bytes"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bytes</span></code></a> and a <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#memoryview" title="memoryview"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">memoryview</span></code></a>
of a <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#bytes" title="bytes"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bytes</span></code></a> object.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-bytecode">bytecode<a class="headerlink" href="#term-bytecode" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>Python source code is compiled into bytecode, the internal representation
of a Python program in the CPython interpreter.  The bytecode is also
cached in <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pyc</span></code> 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
<a class="reference internal" href="#term-virtual-machine"><span class="xref std std-term">virtual machine</span></a> that executes the machine code corresponding to
each bytecode. Do note that bytecodes are not expected to work between
different Python virtual machines, nor to be stable between Python
releases.</p>
<p>A list of bytecode instructions can be found in the documentation for
<a class="reference internal" href="library/dis.html#bytecodes"><span class="std std-ref">the dis module</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-callable">callable<a class="headerlink" href="#term-callable" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A callable is an object that can be called, possibly with a set
of arguments (see <a class="reference internal" href="#term-argument"><span class="xref std std-term">argument</span></a>), with the following syntax:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="nb">callable</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">argument1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">argument2</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">argumentN</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>A <a class="reference internal" href="#term-function"><span class="xref std std-term">function</span></a>, and by extension a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-method"><span class="xref std std-term">method</span></a>, is a callable.
An instance of a class that implements the <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__call__" title="object.__call__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__call__()</span></code></a>
method is also a callable.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-callback">callback<a class="headerlink" href="#term-callback" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A subroutine function which is passed as an argument to be executed at
some point in the future.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-class">class<a class="headerlink" href="#term-class" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A template for creating user-defined objects. Class definitions
normally contain method definitions which operate on instances of the
class.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-class-variable">class variable<a class="headerlink" href="#term-class-variable" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A variable defined in a class and intended to be modified only at
class level (i.e., not in an instance of the class).</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-complex-number">complex number<a class="headerlink" href="#term-complex-number" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>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
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-1</span></code>), often written <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">i</span></code> in mathematics or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">j</span></code> in
engineering.  Python has built-in support for complex numbers, which are
written with this latter notation; the imaginary part is written with a
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">j</span></code> suffix, e.g., <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">3+1j</span></code>.  To get access to complex equivalents of the
<a class="reference internal" href="library/math.html#module-math" title="math: Mathematical functions (sin() etc.)."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">math</span></code></a> module, use <a class="reference internal" href="library/cmath.html#module-cmath" title="cmath: Mathematical functions for complex numbers."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">cmath</span></code></a>.  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.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-context-manager">context manager<a class="headerlink" href="#term-context-manager" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An object which controls the environment seen in a <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#with"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">with</span></code></a>
statement by defining <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__enter__" title="object.__enter__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__enter__()</span></code></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__exit__" title="object.__exit__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__exit__()</span></code></a> methods.
See <span class="target" id="index-9"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0343/"><strong>PEP 343</strong></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-context-variable">context variable<a class="headerlink" href="#term-context-variable" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A variable which can have different values depending on its context.
This is similar to Thread-Local Storage in which each execution
thread may have a different value for a variable. However, with context
variables, there may be several contexts in one execution thread and the
main usage for context variables is to keep track of variables in
concurrent asynchronous tasks.
See <a class="reference internal" href="library/contextvars.html#module-contextvars" title="contextvars: Context Variables"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">contextvars</span></code></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-contiguous">contiguous<a class="headerlink" href="#term-contiguous" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p id="index-10">A buffer is considered contiguous exactly if it is either
<em>C-contiguous</em> or <em>Fortran contiguous</em>.  Zero-dimensional buffers are
C and Fortran contiguous.  In one-dimensional arrays, the items
must be laid out in memory next to each other, in order of
increasing indexes starting from zero.  In multidimensional
C-contiguous arrays, the last index varies the fastest when
visiting items in order of memory address.  However, in
Fortran contiguous arrays, the first index varies the fastest.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-coroutine">coroutine<a class="headerlink" href="#term-coroutine" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>Coroutines are a more generalized form of subroutines. Subroutines are
entered at one point and exited at another point.  Coroutines can be
entered, exited, and resumed at many different points.  They can be
implemented with the <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#async-def"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">async</span> <span class="pre">def</span></code></a> statement.  See also
<span class="target" id="index-11"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0492/"><strong>PEP 492</strong></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-coroutine-function">coroutine function<a class="headerlink" href="#term-coroutine-function" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A function which returns a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-coroutine"><span class="xref std std-term">coroutine</span></a> object.  A coroutine
function may be defined with the <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#async-def"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">async</span> <span class="pre">def</span></code></a> statement,
and may contain <a class="reference internal" href="reference/expressions.html#await"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">await</span></code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#async-for"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">async</span> <span class="pre">for</span></code></a>, and
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#async-with"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">async</span> <span class="pre">with</span></code></a> keywords.  These were introduced
by <span class="target" id="index-12"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0492/"><strong>PEP 492</strong></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-CPython">CPython<a class="headerlink" href="#term-CPython" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>The canonical implementation of the Python programming language, as
distributed on <a class="reference external" href="https://www.python.org">python.org</a>.  The term “CPython”
is used when necessary to distinguish this implementation from others
such as Jython or IronPython.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-decorator">decorator<a class="headerlink" href="#term-decorator" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A function returning another function, usually applied as a function
transformation using the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&#64;wrapper</span></code> syntax.  Common examples for
decorators are <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#classmethod" title="classmethod"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">classmethod()</span></code></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#staticmethod" title="staticmethod"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">staticmethod()</span></code></a>.</p>
<p>The decorator syntax is merely syntactic sugar, the following two
function definitions are semantically equivalent:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">f</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">arg</span><span class="p">):</span>
    <span class="o">...</span>
<span class="n">f</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nb">staticmethod</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">f</span><span class="p">)</span>

<span class="nd">@staticmethod</span>
<span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">f</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">arg</span><span class="p">):</span>
    <span class="o">...</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>The same concept exists for classes, but is less commonly used there.  See
the documentation for <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#function"><span class="std std-ref">function definitions</span></a> and
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#class"><span class="std std-ref">class definitions</span></a> for more about decorators.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-descriptor">descriptor<a class="headerlink" href="#term-descriptor" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>Any object which defines the methods <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__get__" title="object.__get__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__get__()</span></code></a>,
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__set__" title="object.__set__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__set__()</span></code></a>, or <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__delete__" title="object.__delete__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__delete__()</span></code></a>.
When a class attribute is a descriptor, its special
binding behavior is triggered upon attribute lookup.  Normally, using
<em>a.b</em> to get, set or delete an attribute looks up the object named <em>b</em> in
the class dictionary for <em>a</em>, but if <em>b</em> 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.</p>
<p>For more information about descriptors’ methods, see <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#descriptors"><span class="std std-ref">Implementing Descriptors</span></a>
or the <a class="reference internal" href="howto/descriptor.html#descriptorhowto"><span class="std std-ref">Descriptor How To Guide</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-dictionary">dictionary<a class="headerlink" href="#term-dictionary" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An associative array, where arbitrary keys are mapped to values.  The
keys can be any object with <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__hash__" title="object.__hash__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__hash__()</span></code></a> and
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__eq__" title="object.__eq__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__eq__()</span></code></a> methods.
Called a hash in Perl.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-dictionary-comprehension">dictionary comprehension<a class="headerlink" href="#term-dictionary-comprehension" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A compact way to process all or part of the elements in an iterable and
return a dictionary with the results. <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">results</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">{n:</span> <span class="pre">n</span> <span class="pre">**</span> <span class="pre">2</span> <span class="pre">for</span> <span class="pre">n</span> <span class="pre">in</span>
<span class="pre">range(10)}</span></code> generates a dictionary containing key <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">n</span></code> mapped to
value <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">n</span> <span class="pre">**</span> <span class="pre">2</span></code>. See <a class="reference internal" href="reference/expressions.html#comprehensions"><span class="std std-ref">Displays for lists, sets and dictionaries</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-dictionary-view">dictionary view<a class="headerlink" href="#term-dictionary-view" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>The objects returned from <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#dict.keys" title="dict.keys"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">dict.keys()</span></code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#dict.values" title="dict.values"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">dict.values()</span></code></a>, and
<a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#dict.items" title="dict.items"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">dict.items()</span></code></a> are called dictionary views. They provide a dynamic
view on the dictionary’s entries, which means that when the dictionary
changes, the view reflects these changes. To force the
dictionary view to become a full list use <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">list(dictview)</span></code>.  See
<a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#dict-views"><span class="std std-ref">Dictionary view objects</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-docstring">docstring<a class="headerlink" href="#term-docstring" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A string literal which appears as the first expression in a class,
function or module.  While ignored when the suite is executed, it is
recognized by the compiler and put into the <code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__doc__</span></code> attribute
of the enclosing class, function or module.  Since it is available via
introspection, it is the canonical place for documentation of the
object.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-duck-typing">duck-typing<a class="headerlink" href="#term-duck-typing" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A programming style which does not look at an object’s type to determine
if it has the right interface; instead, the method or attribute is simply
called or used (“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 <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#type" title="type"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">type()</span></code></a> or
<a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#isinstance" title="isinstance"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">isinstance()</span></code></a>.  (Note, however, that duck-typing can be complemented
with <a class="reference internal" href="#term-abstract-base-class"><span class="xref std std-term">abstract base classes</span></a>.)  Instead, it
typically employs <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#hasattr" title="hasattr"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">hasattr()</span></code></a> tests or <a class="reference internal" href="#term-EAFP"><span class="xref std std-term">EAFP</span></a> programming.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-EAFP">EAFP<a class="headerlink" href="#term-EAFP" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>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 <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#try"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">try</span></code></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#except"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">except</span></code></a>
statements.  The technique contrasts with the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-LBYL"><span class="xref std std-term">LBYL</span></a> style
common to many other languages such as C.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-expression">expression<a class="headerlink" href="#term-expression" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>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 which all return a
value.  In contrast to many other languages, not all language constructs
are expressions.  There are also <a class="reference internal" href="#term-statement"><span class="xref std std-term">statement</span></a>s which cannot be used
as expressions, such as <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#while"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">while</span></code></a>.  Assignments are also statements,
not expressions.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-extension-module">extension module<a class="headerlink" href="#term-extension-module" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A module written in C or C++, using Python’s C API to interact with the
core and with user code.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-f-string">f-string<a class="headerlink" href="#term-f-string" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>String literals prefixed with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'f'</span></code> or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'F'</span></code> are commonly called
“f-strings” which is short for
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/lexical_analysis.html#f-strings"><span class="std std-ref">formatted string literals</span></a>.  See also <span class="target" id="index-13"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0498/"><strong>PEP 498</strong></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-file-object">file object<a class="headerlink" href="#term-file-object" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An object exposing a file-oriented API (with methods such as
<code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">read()</span></code> or <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">write()</span></code>) to an underlying resource.  Depending
on the way it was created, a file object can mediate access to a real
on-disk file or to another type of storage or communication device
(for example standard input/output, in-memory buffers, sockets, pipes,
etc.).  File objects are also called <em class="dfn">file-like objects</em> or
<em class="dfn">streams</em>.</p>
<p>There are actually three categories of file objects: raw
<a class="reference internal" href="#term-binary-file"><span class="xref std std-term">binary files</span></a>, buffered
<a class="reference internal" href="#term-binary-file"><span class="xref std std-term">binary files</span></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="#term-text-file"><span class="xref std std-term">text files</span></a>.
Their interfaces are defined in the <a class="reference internal" href="library/io.html#module-io" title="io: Core tools for working with streams."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">io</span></code></a> module.  The canonical
way to create a file object is by using the <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#open" title="open"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">open()</span></code></a> function.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-file-like-object">file-like object<a class="headerlink" href="#term-file-like-object" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A synonym for <a class="reference internal" href="#term-file-object"><span class="xref std std-term">file object</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-filesystem-encoding-and-error-handler">filesystem encoding and error handler<a class="headerlink" href="#term-filesystem-encoding-and-error-handler" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>Encoding and error handler used by Python to decode bytes from the
operating system and encode Unicode to the operating system.</p>
<p>The filesystem encoding must guarantee to successfully decode all bytes
below 128. If the file system encoding fails to provide this guarantee,
API functions can raise <a class="reference internal" href="library/exceptions.html#UnicodeError" title="UnicodeError"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">UnicodeError</span></code></a>.</p>
<p>The <a class="reference internal" href="library/sys.html#sys.getfilesystemencoding" title="sys.getfilesystemencoding"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.getfilesystemencoding()</span></code></a> and
<a class="reference internal" href="library/sys.html#sys.getfilesystemencodeerrors" title="sys.getfilesystemencodeerrors"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.getfilesystemencodeerrors()</span></code></a> functions can be used to get the
filesystem encoding and error handler.</p>
<p>The <a class="reference internal" href="#term-filesystem-encoding-and-error-handler"><span class="xref std std-term">filesystem encoding and error handler</span></a> are configured at
Python startup by the <a class="reference internal" href="c-api/init_config.html#c.PyConfig_Read" title="PyConfig_Read"><code class="xref c c-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PyConfig_Read()</span></code></a> function: see
<a class="reference internal" href="c-api/init_config.html#c.PyConfig.filesystem_encoding" title="PyConfig.filesystem_encoding"><code class="xref c c-member docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">filesystem_encoding</span></code></a> and
<a class="reference internal" href="c-api/init_config.html#c.PyConfig.filesystem_errors" title="PyConfig.filesystem_errors"><code class="xref c c-member docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">filesystem_errors</span></code></a> members of <a class="reference internal" href="c-api/init_config.html#c.PyConfig" title="PyConfig"><code class="xref c c-type docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PyConfig</span></code></a>.</p>
<p>See also the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-locale-encoding"><span class="xref std std-term">locale encoding</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-finder">finder<a class="headerlink" href="#term-finder" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An object that tries to find the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-loader"><span class="xref std std-term">loader</span></a> for a module that is
being imported.</p>
<p>Since Python 3.3, there are two types of finder: <a class="reference internal" href="#term-meta-path-finder"><span class="xref std std-term">meta path finders</span></a> for use with <a class="reference internal" href="library/sys.html#sys.meta_path" title="sys.meta_path"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.meta_path</span></code></a>, and <a class="reference internal" href="#term-path-entry-finder"><span class="xref std std-term">path
entry finders</span></a> for use with <a class="reference internal" href="library/sys.html#sys.path_hooks" title="sys.path_hooks"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path_hooks</span></code></a>.</p>
<p>See <span class="target" id="index-14"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0302/"><strong>PEP 302</strong></a>, <span class="target" id="index-15"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0420/"><strong>PEP 420</strong></a> and <span class="target" id="index-16"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0451/"><strong>PEP 451</strong></a> for much more detail.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-floor-division">floor division<a class="headerlink" href="#term-floor-division" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>Mathematical division that rounds down to nearest integer.  The floor
division operator is <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">//</span></code>.  For example, the expression <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">11</span> <span class="pre">//</span> <span class="pre">4</span></code>
evaluates to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">2</span></code> in contrast to the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">2.75</span></code> returned by float true
division.  Note that <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">(-11)</span> <span class="pre">//</span> <span class="pre">4</span></code> is <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-3</span></code> because that is <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-2.75</span></code>
rounded <em>downward</em>. See <span class="target" id="index-17"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0238/"><strong>PEP 238</strong></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-function">function<a class="headerlink" href="#term-function" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A series of statements which returns some value to a caller. It can also
be passed zero or more <a class="reference internal" href="#term-argument"><span class="xref std std-term">arguments</span></a> which may be used in
the execution of the body. See also <a class="reference internal" href="#term-parameter"><span class="xref std std-term">parameter</span></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="#term-method"><span class="xref std std-term">method</span></a>,
and the <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#function"><span class="std std-ref">Function definitions</span></a> section.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-function-annotation">function annotation<a class="headerlink" href="#term-function-annotation" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An <a class="reference internal" href="#term-annotation"><span class="xref std std-term">annotation</span></a> of a function parameter or return value.</p>
<p>Function annotations are usually used for
<a class="reference internal" href="#term-type-hint"><span class="xref std std-term">type hints</span></a>: for example, this function is expected to take two
<a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#int" title="int"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">int</span></code></a> arguments and is also expected to have an <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#int" title="int"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">int</span></code></a>
return value:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">sum_two_numbers</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">a</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">b</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">-&gt;</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">:</span>
   <span class="k">return</span> <span class="n">a</span> <span class="o">+</span> <span class="n">b</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Function annotation syntax is explained in section <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#function"><span class="std std-ref">Function definitions</span></a>.</p>
<p>See <a class="reference internal" href="#term-variable-annotation"><span class="xref std std-term">variable annotation</span></a> and <span class="target" id="index-18"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0484/"><strong>PEP 484</strong></a>,
which describe this functionality.
Also see <a class="reference internal" href="howto/annotations.html#annotations-howto"><span class="std std-ref">Annotations Best Practices</span></a>
for best practices on working with annotations.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-__future__">__future__<a class="headerlink" href="#term-__future__" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A <a class="reference internal" href="reference/simple_stmts.html#future"><span class="std std-ref">future statement</span></a>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">from</span> <span class="pre">__future__</span> <span class="pre">import</span> <span class="pre">&lt;feature&gt;</span></code>,
directs the compiler to compile the current module using syntax or
semantics that will become standard in a future release of Python.
The <a class="reference internal" href="library/__future__.html#module-__future__" title="__future__: Future statement definitions"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__future__</span></code></a> module documents the possible values of
<em>feature</em>.  By importing this module and evaluating its variables,
you can see when a new feature was first added to the language and
when it will (or did) become the default:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">__future__</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="n">__future__</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">division</span>
<span class="go">_Feature((2, 2, 0, &#39;alpha&#39;, 2), (3, 0, 0, &#39;alpha&#39;, 0), 8192)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="term-garbage-collection">garbage collection<a class="headerlink" href="#term-garbage-collection" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>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.  The
garbage collector can be controlled using the <a class="reference internal" href="library/gc.html#module-gc" title="gc: Interface to the cycle-detecting garbage collector."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">gc</span></code></a> module.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-generator">generator<a class="headerlink" href="#term-generator" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A function which returns a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-generator-iterator"><span class="xref std std-term">generator iterator</span></a>.  It looks like a
normal function except that it contains <a class="reference internal" href="reference/simple_stmts.html#yield"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">yield</span></code></a> expressions
for producing a series of values usable in a for-loop or that can be
retrieved one at a time with the <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#next" title="next"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">next()</span></code></a> function.</p>
<p>Usually refers to a generator function, but may refer to a
<em>generator iterator</em> in some contexts.  In cases where the intended
meaning isn’t clear, using the full terms avoids ambiguity.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-generator-iterator">generator iterator<a class="headerlink" href="#term-generator-iterator" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An object created by a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-generator"><span class="xref std std-term">generator</span></a> function.</p>
<p>Each <a class="reference internal" href="reference/simple_stmts.html#yield"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">yield</span></code></a> temporarily suspends processing, remembering the
location execution state (including local variables and pending
try-statements).  When the <em>generator iterator</em> resumes, it picks up where
it left off (in contrast to functions which start fresh on every
invocation).</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-generator-expression">generator expression<a class="headerlink" href="#term-generator-expression" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An expression that returns an iterator.  It looks like a normal expression
followed by a <code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">for</span></code> clause defining a loop variable, range,
and an optional <code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">if</span></code> clause.  The combined expression
generates values for an enclosing function:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="nb">sum</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">i</span><span class="o">*</span><span class="n">i</span> <span class="k">for</span> <span class="n">i</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="nb">range</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">10</span><span class="p">))</span>         <span class="c1"># sum of squares 0, 1, 4, ... 81</span>
<span class="go">285</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="term-generic-function">generic function<a class="headerlink" href="#term-generic-function" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A function composed of multiple functions implementing the same operation
for different types. Which implementation should be used during a call is
determined by the dispatch algorithm.</p>
<p>See also the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-single-dispatch"><span class="xref std std-term">single dispatch</span></a> glossary entry, the
<a class="reference internal" href="library/functools.html#functools.singledispatch" title="functools.singledispatch"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">functools.singledispatch()</span></code></a> decorator, and <span class="target" id="index-21"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0443/"><strong>PEP 443</strong></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-generic-type">generic type<a class="headerlink" href="#term-generic-type" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A <a class="reference internal" href="#term-type"><span class="xref std std-term">type</span></a> that can be parameterized; typically a
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#sequence-types"><span class="std std-ref">container class</span></a> such as <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#list" title="list"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">list</span></code></a> or
<a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#dict" title="dict"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">dict</span></code></a>. Used for <a class="reference internal" href="#term-type-hint"><span class="xref std std-term">type hints</span></a> and
<a class="reference internal" href="#term-annotation"><span class="xref std std-term">annotations</span></a>.</p>
<p>For more details, see <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#types-genericalias"><span class="std std-ref">generic alias types</span></a>,
<span class="target" id="index-22"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0483/"><strong>PEP 483</strong></a>, <span class="target" id="index-23"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0484/"><strong>PEP 484</strong></a>, <span class="target" id="index-24"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0585/"><strong>PEP 585</strong></a>, and the <a class="reference internal" href="library/typing.html#module-typing" title="typing: Support for type hints (see :pep:`484`)."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">typing</span></code></a> module.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-GIL">GIL<a class="headerlink" href="#term-GIL" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>See <a class="reference internal" href="#term-global-interpreter-lock"><span class="xref std std-term">global interpreter lock</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-global-interpreter-lock">global interpreter lock<a class="headerlink" href="#term-global-interpreter-lock" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>The mechanism used by the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-CPython"><span class="xref std std-term">CPython</span></a> interpreter to assure that
only one thread executes Python <a class="reference internal" href="#term-bytecode"><span class="xref std std-term">bytecode</span></a> at a time.
This simplifies the CPython implementation by making the object model
(including critical built-in types such as <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#dict" title="dict"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">dict</span></code></a>) implicitly
safe against concurrent access.  Locking the entire interpreter
makes it easier for the interpreter to be multi-threaded, at the
expense of much of the parallelism afforded by multi-processor
machines.</p>
<p>However, some extension modules, either standard or third-party,
are designed so as to release the GIL when doing computationally intensive
tasks such as compression or hashing.  Also, the GIL is always released
when doing I/O.</p>
<p>Past efforts to create a “free-threaded” interpreter (one which locks
shared data at a much finer granularity) have not been successful
because performance suffered in the common single-processor case. It
is believed that overcoming this performance issue would make the
implementation much more complicated and therefore costlier to maintain.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-hash-based-pyc">hash-based pyc<a class="headerlink" href="#term-hash-based-pyc" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A bytecode cache file that uses the hash rather than the last-modified
time of the corresponding source file to determine its validity. See
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/import.html#pyc-invalidation"><span class="std std-ref">Cached bytecode invalidation</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-hashable">hashable<a class="headerlink" href="#term-hashable" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An object is <em>hashable</em> if it has a hash value which never changes during
its lifetime (it needs a <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__hash__" title="object.__hash__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__hash__()</span></code></a> method), and can be
compared to other objects (it needs an <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__eq__" title="object.__eq__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__eq__()</span></code></a> method).
Hashable objects which
compare equal must have the same hash value.</p>
<p>Hashability makes an object usable as a dictionary key and a set member,
because these data structures use the hash value internally.</p>
<p>Most of Python’s immutable built-in objects are hashable; mutable
containers (such as lists or dictionaries) are not; immutable
containers (such as tuples and frozensets) are only hashable if
their elements are hashable.  Objects which are
instances of user-defined classes are hashable by default.  They all
compare unequal (except with themselves), and their hash value is derived
from their <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#id" title="id"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">id()</span></code></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-IDLE">IDLE<a class="headerlink" href="#term-IDLE" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An Integrated Development and Learning Environment for Python.
<a class="reference internal" href="library/idle.html#idle"><span class="std std-ref">IDLE</span></a> is a basic editor and interpreter environment
which ships with the standard distribution of Python.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-immutable">immutable<a class="headerlink" href="#term-immutable" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An object with a fixed value.  Immutable objects include numbers, strings and
tuples.  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.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-import-path">import path<a class="headerlink" href="#term-import-path" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A list of locations (or <a class="reference internal" href="#term-path-entry"><span class="xref std std-term">path entries</span></a>) that are
searched by the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-path-based-finder"><span class="xref std std-term">path based finder</span></a> for modules to import. During
import, this list of locations usually comes from <a class="reference internal" href="library/sys.html#sys.path" title="sys.path"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code></a>, but
for subpackages it may also come from the parent package’s <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__path__</span></code>
attribute.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-importing">importing<a class="headerlink" href="#term-importing" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>The process by which Python code in one module is made available to
Python code in another module.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-importer">importer<a class="headerlink" href="#term-importer" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An object that both finds and loads a module; both a
<a class="reference internal" href="#term-finder"><span class="xref std std-term">finder</span></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="#term-loader"><span class="xref std std-term">loader</span></a> object.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-interactive">interactive<a class="headerlink" href="#term-interactive" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>Python has an interactive interpreter which means you can enter
statements and expressions at the interpreter prompt, immediately
execute them and see their results.  Just launch <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">python</span></code> 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 <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">help(x)</span></code>).</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-interpreted">interpreted<a class="headerlink" href="#term-interpreted" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>Python is an interpreted language, as opposed to a compiled one,
though the distinction can be blurry because of the presence of the
bytecode compiler.  This means that source files can be run directly
without explicitly 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 <a class="reference internal" href="#term-interactive"><span class="xref std std-term">interactive</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-interpreter-shutdown">interpreter shutdown<a class="headerlink" href="#term-interpreter-shutdown" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>When asked to shut down, the Python interpreter enters a special phase
where it gradually releases all allocated resources, such as modules
and various critical internal structures.  It also makes several calls
to the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-garbage-collection"><span class="xref std std-term">garbage collector</span></a>. This can trigger
the execution of code in user-defined destructors or weakref callbacks.
Code executed during the shutdown phase can encounter various
exceptions as the resources it relies on may not function anymore
(common examples are library modules or the warnings machinery).</p>
<p>The main reason for interpreter shutdown is that the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__main__</span></code> module
or the script being run has finished executing.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-iterable">iterable<a class="headerlink" href="#term-iterable" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An object capable of returning its members one at a time. Examples of
iterables include all sequence types (such as <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#list" title="list"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">list</span></code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#str" title="str"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">str</span></code></a>,
and <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#tuple" title="tuple"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">tuple</span></code></a>) and some non-sequence types like <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#dict" title="dict"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">dict</span></code></a>,
<a class="reference internal" href="#term-file-object"><span class="xref std std-term">file objects</span></a>, and objects of any classes you define
with an <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#iterator.__iter__" title="iterator.__iter__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__iter__()</span></code></a> method or with a
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__getitem__" title="object.__getitem__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__getitem__()</span></code></a> method
that implements <a class="reference internal" href="#term-sequence"><span class="xref std std-term">sequence</span></a> semantics.</p>
<p>Iterables can be
used in a <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#for"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">for</span></code></a> loop and in many other places where a sequence is
needed (<a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#zip" title="zip"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">zip()</span></code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#map" title="map"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">map()</span></code></a>, …).  When an iterable object is passed
as an argument to the built-in function <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#iter" title="iter"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">iter()</span></code></a>, 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
<a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#iter" title="iter"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">iter()</span></code></a> or deal with iterator objects yourself.  The <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#for"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">for</span></code></a>
statement does that automatically for you, creating a temporary unnamed
variable to hold the iterator for the duration of the loop.  See also
<a class="reference internal" href="#term-iterator"><span class="xref std std-term">iterator</span></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="#term-sequence"><span class="xref std std-term">sequence</span></a>, and <a class="reference internal" href="#term-generator"><span class="xref std std-term">generator</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-iterator">iterator<a class="headerlink" href="#term-iterator" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An object representing a stream of data.  Repeated calls to the iterator’s
<a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#iterator.__next__" title="iterator.__next__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__next__()</span></code></a> method (or passing it to the built-in function
<a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#next" title="next"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">next()</span></code></a>) return successive items in the stream.  When no more data
are available a <a class="reference internal" href="library/exceptions.html#StopIteration" title="StopIteration"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">StopIteration</span></code></a> exception is raised instead.  At this
point, the iterator object is exhausted and any further calls to its
<code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__next__()</span></code> method just raise <a class="reference internal" href="library/exceptions.html#StopIteration" title="StopIteration"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">StopIteration</span></code></a> again.  Iterators
are required to have an <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#iterator.__iter__" title="iterator.__iter__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__iter__()</span></code></a> 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
which attempts multiple iteration passes.  A container object (such as a
<a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#list" title="list"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">list</span></code></a>) produces a fresh new iterator each time you pass it to the
<a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#iter" title="iter"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">iter()</span></code></a> function or use it in a <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#for"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">for</span></code></a> 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.</p>
<p>More information can be found in <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#typeiter"><span class="std std-ref">Iterator Types</span></a>.</p>
<div class="impl-detail compound">
<p><strong>CPython implementation detail:</strong> CPython does not consistently apply the requirement that an iterator
define <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#iterator.__iter__" title="iterator.__iter__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__iter__()</span></code></a>.</p>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="term-key-function">key function<a class="headerlink" href="#term-key-function" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A key function or collation function is a callable that returns a value
used for sorting or ordering.  For example, <a class="reference internal" href="library/locale.html#locale.strxfrm" title="locale.strxfrm"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">locale.strxfrm()</span></code></a> is
used to produce a sort key that is aware of locale specific sort
conventions.</p>
<p>A number of tools in Python accept key functions to control how elements
are ordered or grouped.  They include <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#min" title="min"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">min()</span></code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#max" title="max"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">max()</span></code></a>,
<a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#sorted" title="sorted"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sorted()</span></code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#list.sort" title="list.sort"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">list.sort()</span></code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="library/heapq.html#heapq.merge" title="heapq.merge"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">heapq.merge()</span></code></a>,
<a class="reference internal" href="library/heapq.html#heapq.nsmallest" title="heapq.nsmallest"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">heapq.nsmallest()</span></code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="library/heapq.html#heapq.nlargest" title="heapq.nlargest"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">heapq.nlargest()</span></code></a>, and
<a class="reference internal" href="library/itertools.html#itertools.groupby" title="itertools.groupby"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">itertools.groupby()</span></code></a>.</p>
<p>There are several ways to create a key function.  For example. the
<a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#str.lower" title="str.lower"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">str.lower()</span></code></a> method can serve as a key function for case insensitive
sorts.  Alternatively, a key function can be built from a
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/expressions.html#lambda"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lambda</span></code></a> expression such as <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lambda</span> <span class="pre">r:</span> <span class="pre">(r[0],</span> <span class="pre">r[2])</span></code>.  Also,
<a class="reference internal" href="library/operator.html#operator.attrgetter" title="operator.attrgetter"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">operator.attrgetter()</span></code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="library/operator.html#operator.itemgetter" title="operator.itemgetter"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">operator.itemgetter()</span></code></a>, and
<a class="reference internal" href="library/operator.html#operator.methodcaller" title="operator.methodcaller"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">operator.methodcaller()</span></code></a> are three key function constructors.  See the <a class="reference internal" href="howto/sorting.html#sortinghowto"><span class="std std-ref">Sorting HOW TO</span></a> for examples of how to create and use key functions.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-keyword-argument">keyword argument<a class="headerlink" href="#term-keyword-argument" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>See <a class="reference internal" href="#term-argument"><span class="xref std std-term">argument</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-lambda">lambda<a class="headerlink" href="#term-lambda" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An anonymous inline function consisting of a single <a class="reference internal" href="#term-expression"><span class="xref std std-term">expression</span></a>
which is evaluated when the function is called.  The syntax to create
a lambda function is <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lambda</span> <span class="pre">[parameters]:</span> <span class="pre">expression</span></code></p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-LBYL">LBYL<a class="headerlink" href="#term-LBYL" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>Look before you leap.  This coding style explicitly tests for
pre-conditions before making calls or lookups.  This style contrasts with
the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-EAFP"><span class="xref std std-term">EAFP</span></a> approach and is characterized by the presence of many
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#if"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">if</span></code></a> statements.</p>
<p>In a multi-threaded environment, the LBYL approach can risk introducing a
race condition between “the looking” and “the leaping”.  For example, the
code, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">if</span> <span class="pre">key</span> <span class="pre">in</span> <span class="pre">mapping:</span> <span class="pre">return</span> <span class="pre">mapping[key]</span></code> can fail if another
thread removes <em>key</em> from <em>mapping</em> after the test, but before the lookup.
This issue can be solved with locks or by using the EAFP approach.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-list">list<a class="headerlink" href="#term-list" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A built-in Python <a class="reference internal" href="#term-sequence"><span class="xref std std-term">sequence</span></a>.  Despite its name it is more akin
to an array in other languages than to a linked list since access to
elements is <em>O</em>(1).</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-list-comprehension">list comprehension<a class="headerlink" href="#term-list-comprehension" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A compact way to process all or part of the elements in a sequence and
return a list with the results.  <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">result</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">['{:#04x}'.format(x)</span> <span class="pre">for</span> <span class="pre">x</span> <span class="pre">in</span>
<span class="pre">range(256)</span> <span class="pre">if</span> <span class="pre">x</span> <span class="pre">%</span> <span class="pre">2</span> <span class="pre">==</span> <span class="pre">0]</span></code> generates a list of strings containing
even hex numbers (0x..) in the range from 0 to 255. The <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#if"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">if</span></code></a>
clause is optional.  If omitted, all elements in <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">range(256)</span></code> are
processed.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-loader">loader<a class="headerlink" href="#term-loader" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An object that loads a module. It must define a method named
<code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">load_module()</span></code>. A loader is typically returned by a
<a class="reference internal" href="#term-finder"><span class="xref std std-term">finder</span></a>. See <span class="target" id="index-25"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0302/"><strong>PEP 302</strong></a> for details and
<a class="reference internal" href="library/importlib.html#importlib.abc.Loader" title="importlib.abc.Loader"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">importlib.abc.Loader</span></code></a> for an <a class="reference internal" href="#term-abstract-base-class"><span class="xref std std-term">abstract base class</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-locale-encoding">locale encoding<a class="headerlink" href="#term-locale-encoding" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>On Unix, it is the encoding of the LC_CTYPE locale. It can be set with
<a class="reference internal" href="library/locale.html#locale.setlocale" title="locale.setlocale"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">locale.setlocale(locale.LC_CTYPE,</span> <span class="pre">new_locale)</span></code></a>.</p>
<p>On Windows, it is the ANSI code page (ex: <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&quot;cp1252&quot;</span></code>).</p>
<p>On Android and VxWorks, Python uses <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&quot;utf-8&quot;</span></code> as the locale encoding.</p>
<p><a class="reference internal" href="library/locale.html#locale.getencoding" title="locale.getencoding"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">locale.getencoding()</span></code></a> can be used to get the locale encoding.</p>
<p>See also the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-filesystem-encoding-and-error-handler"><span class="xref std std-term">filesystem encoding and error handler</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-magic-method">magic method<a class="headerlink" href="#term-magic-method" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p id="index-26">An informal synonym for <a class="reference internal" href="#term-special-method"><span class="xref std std-term">special method</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-mapping">mapping<a class="headerlink" href="#term-mapping" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A container object that supports arbitrary key lookups and implements the
methods specified in the <a class="reference internal" href="library/collections.abc.html#collections.abc.Mapping" title="collections.abc.Mapping"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">collections.abc.Mapping</span></code></a> or
<a class="reference internal" href="library/collections.abc.html#collections.abc.MutableMapping" title="collections.abc.MutableMapping"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">collections.abc.MutableMapping</span></code></a>
<a class="reference internal" href="library/collections.abc.html#collections-abstract-base-classes"><span class="std std-ref">abstract base classes</span></a>.  Examples
include <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#dict" title="dict"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">dict</span></code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="library/collections.html#collections.defaultdict" title="collections.defaultdict"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">collections.defaultdict</span></code></a>,
<a class="reference internal" href="library/collections.html#collections.OrderedDict" title="collections.OrderedDict"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">collections.OrderedDict</span></code></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="library/collections.html#collections.Counter" title="collections.Counter"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">collections.Counter</span></code></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-meta-path-finder">meta path finder<a class="headerlink" href="#term-meta-path-finder" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A <a class="reference internal" href="#term-finder"><span class="xref std std-term">finder</span></a> returned by a search of <a class="reference internal" href="library/sys.html#sys.meta_path" title="sys.meta_path"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.meta_path</span></code></a>.  Meta path
finders are related to, but different from <a class="reference internal" href="#term-path-entry-finder"><span class="xref std std-term">path entry finders</span></a>.</p>
<p>See <a class="reference internal" href="library/importlib.html#importlib.abc.MetaPathFinder" title="importlib.abc.MetaPathFinder"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">importlib.abc.MetaPathFinder</span></code></a> for the methods that meta path
finders implement.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-metaclass">metaclass<a class="headerlink" href="#term-metaclass" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>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.</p>
<p>More information can be found in <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#metaclasses"><span class="std std-ref">Metaclasses</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-method">method<a class="headerlink" href="#term-method" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A function which 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 <a class="reference internal" href="#term-argument"><span class="xref std std-term">argument</span></a> (which is usually called <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">self</span></code>).
See <a class="reference internal" href="#term-function"><span class="xref std std-term">function</span></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="#term-nested-scope"><span class="xref std std-term">nested scope</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-method-resolution-order">method resolution order<a class="headerlink" href="#term-method-resolution-order" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>Method Resolution Order is the order in which base classes are searched
for a member during lookup. See <a class="reference external" href="https://www.python.org/download/releases/2.3/mro/">The Python 2.3 Method Resolution Order</a> for details of the
algorithm used by the Python interpreter since the 2.3 release.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-module">module<a class="headerlink" href="#term-module" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An object that serves as an organizational unit of Python code.  Modules
have a namespace containing arbitrary Python objects.  Modules are loaded
into Python by the process of <a class="reference internal" href="#term-importing"><span class="xref std std-term">importing</span></a>.</p>
<p>See also <a class="reference internal" href="#term-package"><span class="xref std std-term">package</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-module-spec">module spec<a class="headerlink" href="#term-module-spec" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A namespace containing the import-related information used to load a
module. An instance of <a class="reference internal" href="library/importlib.html#importlib.machinery.ModuleSpec" title="importlib.machinery.ModuleSpec"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">importlib.machinery.ModuleSpec</span></code></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-MRO">MRO<a class="headerlink" href="#term-MRO" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>See <a class="reference internal" href="#term-method-resolution-order"><span class="xref std std-term">method resolution order</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-mutable">mutable<a class="headerlink" href="#term-mutable" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>Mutable objects can change their value but keep their <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#id" title="id"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">id()</span></code></a>.  See
also <a class="reference internal" href="#term-immutable"><span class="xref std std-term">immutable</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-named-tuple">named tuple<a class="headerlink" href="#term-named-tuple" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>The term “named tuple” applies to any type or class that inherits from
tuple and whose indexable elements are also accessible using named
attributes.  The type or class may have other features as well.</p>
<p>Several built-in types are named tuples, including the values returned
by <a class="reference internal" href="library/time.html#time.localtime" title="time.localtime"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">time.localtime()</span></code></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="library/os.html#os.stat" title="os.stat"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.stat()</span></code></a>.  Another example is
<a class="reference internal" href="library/sys.html#sys.float_info" title="sys.float_info"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.float_info</span></code></a>:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="n">sys</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">float_info</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">]</span>                   <span class="c1"># indexed access</span>
<span class="go">1024</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="n">sys</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">float_info</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">max_exp</span>              <span class="c1"># named field access</span>
<span class="go">1024</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="nb">isinstance</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">sys</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">float_info</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nb">tuple</span><span class="p">)</span>   <span class="c1"># kind of tuple</span>
<span class="go">True</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Some named tuples are built-in types (such as the above examples).
Alternatively, a named tuple can be created from a regular class
definition that inherits from <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#tuple" title="tuple"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">tuple</span></code></a> and that defines named
fields.  Such a class can be written by hand, or it can be created by
inheriting <a class="reference internal" href="library/typing.html#typing.NamedTuple" title="typing.NamedTuple"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">typing.NamedTuple</span></code></a>, or with the factory function
<a class="reference internal" href="library/collections.html#collections.namedtuple" title="collections.namedtuple"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">collections.namedtuple()</span></code></a>.  The latter techniques also add some
extra methods that may not be found in hand-written or built-in named
tuples.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-namespace">namespace<a class="headerlink" href="#term-namespace" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>The place where a variable is stored.  Namespaces are implemented as
dictionaries.  There are the local, global and built-in namespaces as well
as nested namespaces in objects (in methods).  Namespaces support
modularity by preventing naming conflicts.  For instance, the functions
<a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#open" title="open"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">builtins.open</span></code></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="library/os.html#os.open" title="os.open"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.open()</span></code></a> are distinguished by
their namespaces.  Namespaces also aid readability and maintainability by
making it clear which module implements a function.  For instance, writing
<a class="reference internal" href="library/random.html#random.seed" title="random.seed"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">random.seed()</span></code></a> or <a class="reference internal" href="library/itertools.html#itertools.islice" title="itertools.islice"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">itertools.islice()</span></code></a> makes it clear that those
functions are implemented by the <a class="reference internal" href="library/random.html#module-random" title="random: Generate pseudo-random numbers with various common distributions."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">random</span></code></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="library/itertools.html#module-itertools" title="itertools: Functions creating iterators for efficient looping."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">itertools</span></code></a>
modules, respectively.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-namespace-package">namespace package<a class="headerlink" href="#term-namespace-package" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A <span class="target" id="index-27"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0420/"><strong>PEP 420</strong></a> <a class="reference internal" href="#term-package"><span class="xref std std-term">package</span></a> which serves only as a container for
subpackages.  Namespace packages may have no physical representation,
and specifically are not like a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-regular-package"><span class="xref std std-term">regular package</span></a> because they
have no <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__init__.py</span></code> file.</p>
<p>See also <a class="reference internal" href="#term-module"><span class="xref std std-term">module</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-nested-scope">nested scope<a class="headerlink" href="#term-nested-scope" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>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 by default work
only for reference and not for assignment.  Local variables both read and
write in the innermost scope.  Likewise, global variables read and write
to the global namespace.  The <a class="reference internal" href="reference/simple_stmts.html#nonlocal"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">nonlocal</span></code></a> allows writing to outer
scopes.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-new-style-class">new-style class<a class="headerlink" href="#term-new-style-class" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>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 <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__slots__" title="object.__slots__"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__slots__</span></code></a>, descriptors,
properties, <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__getattribute__" title="object.__getattribute__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__getattribute__()</span></code></a>, class methods, and static
methods.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-object">object<a class="headerlink" href="#term-object" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>Any data with state (attributes or value) and defined behavior
(methods).  Also the ultimate base class of any <a class="reference internal" href="#term-new-style-class"><span class="xref std std-term">new-style
class</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-package">package<a class="headerlink" href="#term-package" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A Python <a class="reference internal" href="#term-module"><span class="xref std std-term">module</span></a> which can contain submodules or recursively,
subpackages.  Technically, a package is a Python module with a
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__path__</span></code> attribute.</p>
<p>See also <a class="reference internal" href="#term-regular-package"><span class="xref std std-term">regular package</span></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="#term-namespace-package"><span class="xref std std-term">namespace package</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-parameter">parameter<a class="headerlink" href="#term-parameter" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A named entity in a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-function"><span class="xref std std-term">function</span></a> (or method) definition that
specifies an <a class="reference internal" href="#term-argument"><span class="xref std std-term">argument</span></a> (or in some cases, arguments) that the
function can accept.  There are five kinds of parameter:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><em class="dfn">positional-or-keyword</em>: specifies an argument that can be passed
either <a class="reference internal" href="#term-argument"><span class="xref std std-term">positionally</span></a> or as a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-argument"><span class="xref std std-term">keyword argument</span></a>.  This is the default kind of parameter, for example <em>foo</em>
and <em>bar</em> in the following:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">func</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">foo</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">bar</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="kc">None</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="o">...</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</li>
</ul>
<ul id="positional-only-parameter">
<li><p><em class="dfn">positional-only</em>: specifies an argument that can be supplied only
by position. Positional-only parameters can be defined by including a
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">/</span></code> character in the parameter list of the function definition after
them, for example <em>posonly1</em> and <em>posonly2</em> in the following:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">func</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">posonly1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">posonly2</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="o">/</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">positional_or_keyword</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="o">...</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</li>
</ul>
<ul id="keyword-only-parameter">
<li><p><em class="dfn">keyword-only</em>: specifies an argument that can be supplied only
by keyword.  Keyword-only parameters can be defined by including a
single var-positional parameter or bare <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">*</span></code> in the parameter list
of the function definition before them, for example <em>kw_only1</em> and
<em>kw_only2</em> in the following:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">func</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">arg</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="o">*</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">kw_only1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">kw_only2</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="o">...</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</li>
<li><p><em class="dfn">var-positional</em>: specifies that an arbitrary sequence of
positional arguments can be provided (in addition to any positional
arguments already accepted by other parameters).  Such a parameter can
be defined by prepending the parameter name with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">*</span></code>, for example
<em>args</em> in the following:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">func</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="o">*</span><span class="n">args</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="o">**</span><span class="n">kwargs</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="o">...</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</li>
<li><p><em class="dfn">var-keyword</em>: specifies that arbitrarily many keyword arguments
can be provided (in addition to any keyword arguments already accepted
by other parameters).  Such a parameter can be defined by prepending
the parameter name with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">**</span></code>, for example <em>kwargs</em> in the example
above.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Parameters can specify both optional and required arguments, as well as
default values for some optional arguments.</p>
<p>See also the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-argument"><span class="xref std std-term">argument</span></a> glossary entry, the FAQ question on
<a class="reference internal" href="faq/programming.html#faq-argument-vs-parameter"><span class="std std-ref">the difference between arguments and parameters</span></a>, the <a class="reference internal" href="library/inspect.html#inspect.Parameter" title="inspect.Parameter"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">inspect.Parameter</span></code></a> class, the
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#function"><span class="std std-ref">Function definitions</span></a> section, and <span class="target" id="index-28"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0362/"><strong>PEP 362</strong></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-path-entry">path entry<a class="headerlink" href="#term-path-entry" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A single location on the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-import-path"><span class="xref std std-term">import path</span></a> which the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-path-based-finder"><span class="xref std std-term">path
based finder</span></a> consults to find modules for importing.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-path-entry-finder">path entry finder<a class="headerlink" href="#term-path-entry-finder" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A <a class="reference internal" href="#term-finder"><span class="xref std std-term">finder</span></a> returned by a callable on <a class="reference internal" href="library/sys.html#sys.path_hooks" title="sys.path_hooks"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path_hooks</span></code></a>
(i.e. a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-path-entry-hook"><span class="xref std std-term">path entry hook</span></a>) which knows how to locate modules given
a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-path-entry"><span class="xref std std-term">path entry</span></a>.</p>
<p>See <a class="reference internal" href="library/importlib.html#importlib.abc.PathEntryFinder" title="importlib.abc.PathEntryFinder"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">importlib.abc.PathEntryFinder</span></code></a> for the methods that path entry
finders implement.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-path-entry-hook">path entry hook<a class="headerlink" href="#term-path-entry-hook" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A callable on the <a class="reference internal" href="library/sys.html#sys.path_hooks" title="sys.path_hooks"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path_hooks</span></code></a> list which returns a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-path-entry-finder"><span class="xref std std-term">path
entry finder</span></a> if it knows how to find modules on a specific <a class="reference internal" href="#term-path-entry"><span class="xref std std-term">path
entry</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-path-based-finder">path based finder<a class="headerlink" href="#term-path-based-finder" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>One of the default <a class="reference internal" href="#term-meta-path-finder"><span class="xref std std-term">meta path finders</span></a> which
searches an <a class="reference internal" href="#term-import-path"><span class="xref std std-term">import path</span></a> for modules.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-path-like-object">path-like object<a class="headerlink" href="#term-path-like-object" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An object representing a file system path. A path-like object is either
a <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#str" title="str"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">str</span></code></a> or <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#bytes" title="bytes"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bytes</span></code></a> object representing a path, or an object
implementing the <a class="reference internal" href="library/os.html#os.PathLike" title="os.PathLike"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.PathLike</span></code></a> protocol. An object that supports
the <a class="reference internal" href="library/os.html#os.PathLike" title="os.PathLike"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.PathLike</span></code></a> protocol can be converted to a <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#str" title="str"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">str</span></code></a> or
<a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#bytes" title="bytes"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bytes</span></code></a> file system path by calling the <a class="reference internal" href="library/os.html#os.fspath" title="os.fspath"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.fspath()</span></code></a> function;
<a class="reference internal" href="library/os.html#os.fsdecode" title="os.fsdecode"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.fsdecode()</span></code></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="library/os.html#os.fsencode" title="os.fsencode"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.fsencode()</span></code></a> can be used to guarantee a
<a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#str" title="str"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">str</span></code></a> or <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#bytes" title="bytes"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bytes</span></code></a> result instead, respectively. Introduced
by <span class="target" id="index-29"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0519/"><strong>PEP 519</strong></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-PEP">PEP<a class="headerlink" href="#term-PEP" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>Python Enhancement Proposal. A PEP is a design document
providing information to the Python community, or describing a new
feature for Python or its processes or environment. PEPs should
provide a concise technical specification and a rationale for proposed
features.</p>
<p>PEPs are intended to be the primary mechanisms for proposing major new
features, for collecting community input on an issue, and for documenting
the design decisions that have gone into Python. The PEP author is
responsible for building consensus within the community and documenting
dissenting opinions.</p>
<p>See <span class="target" id="index-30"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0001/"><strong>PEP 1</strong></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-portion">portion<a class="headerlink" href="#term-portion" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A set of files in a single directory (possibly stored in a zip file)
that contribute to a namespace package, as defined in <span class="target" id="index-31"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0420/"><strong>PEP 420</strong></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-positional-argument">positional argument<a class="headerlink" href="#term-positional-argument" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>See <a class="reference internal" href="#term-argument"><span class="xref std std-term">argument</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-provisional-API">provisional API<a class="headerlink" href="#term-provisional-API" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A provisional API is one which has been deliberately excluded from
the standard library’s backwards compatibility guarantees.  While major
changes to such interfaces are not expected, as long as they are marked
provisional, backwards incompatible changes (up to and including removal
of the interface) may occur if deemed necessary by core developers.  Such
changes will not be made gratuitously – they will occur only if serious
fundamental flaws are uncovered that were missed prior to the inclusion
of the API.</p>
<p>Even for provisional APIs, backwards incompatible changes are seen as
a “solution of last resort” - every attempt will still be made to find
a backwards compatible resolution to any identified problems.</p>
<p>This process allows the standard library to continue to evolve over
time, without locking in problematic design errors for extended periods
of time.  See <span class="target" id="index-32"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0411/"><strong>PEP 411</strong></a> for more details.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-provisional-package">provisional package<a class="headerlink" href="#term-provisional-package" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>See <a class="reference internal" href="#term-provisional-API"><span class="xref std std-term">provisional API</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-Python-3000">Python 3000<a class="headerlink" href="#term-Python-3000" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>Nickname for the Python 3.x release line (coined long ago when the
release of version 3 was something in the distant future.)  This is also
abbreviated “Py3k”.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-Pythonic">Pythonic<a class="headerlink" href="#term-Pythonic" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An idea or piece of code which closely follows the most common idioms
of the Python language, rather than implementing code using concepts
common to other languages.  For example, a common idiom in Python is
to loop over all elements of an iterable using a <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#for"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">for</span></code></a>
statement.  Many other languages don’t have this type of construct, so
people unfamiliar with Python sometimes use a numerical counter instead:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">for</span> <span class="n">i</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="nb">range</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nb">len</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">food</span><span class="p">)):</span>
    <span class="nb">print</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">food</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="n">i</span><span class="p">])</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>As opposed to the cleaner, Pythonic method:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">for</span> <span class="n">piece</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="n">food</span><span class="p">:</span>
    <span class="nb">print</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">piece</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="term-qualified-name">qualified name<a class="headerlink" href="#term-qualified-name" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A dotted name showing the “path” from a module’s global scope to a
class, function or method defined in that module, as defined in
<span class="target" id="index-33"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-3155/"><strong>PEP 3155</strong></a>.  For top-level functions and classes, the qualified name
is the same as the object’s name:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="k">class</span> <span class="nc">C</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="gp">... </span>    <span class="k">class</span> <span class="nc">D</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="gp">... </span>        <span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">meth</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="bp">self</span><span class="p">):</span>
<span class="gp">... </span>            <span class="k">pass</span>
<span class="gp">...</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="n">C</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="vm">__qualname__</span>
<span class="go">&#39;C&#39;</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="n">C</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">D</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="vm">__qualname__</span>
<span class="go">&#39;C.D&#39;</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="n">C</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">D</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">meth</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="vm">__qualname__</span>
<span class="go">&#39;C.D.meth&#39;</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>When used to refer to modules, the <em>fully qualified name</em> means the
entire dotted path to the module, including any parent packages,
e.g. <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">email.mime.text</span></code>:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">email.mime.text</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="n">email</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mime</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">text</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="vm">__name__</span>
<span class="go">&#39;email.mime.text&#39;</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="term-reference-count">reference count<a class="headerlink" href="#term-reference-count" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>The number of references to an object.  When the reference count of an
object drops to zero, it is deallocated.  Some objects are
“immortal” and have reference counts that are never modified, and
therefore the objects are never deallocated.  Reference counting is
generally not visible to Python code, but it is a key element of the
<a class="reference internal" href="#term-CPython"><span class="xref std std-term">CPython</span></a> implementation.  Programmers can call the
<a class="reference internal" href="library/sys.html#sys.getrefcount" title="sys.getrefcount"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.getrefcount()</span></code></a> function to return the
reference count for a particular object.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-regular-package">regular package<a class="headerlink" href="#term-regular-package" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A traditional <a class="reference internal" href="#term-package"><span class="xref std std-term">package</span></a>, such as a directory containing an
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__init__.py</span></code> file.</p>
<p>See also <a class="reference internal" href="#term-namespace-package"><span class="xref std std-term">namespace package</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-__slots__">__slots__<a class="headerlink" href="#term-__slots__" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>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.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-sequence">sequence<a class="headerlink" href="#term-sequence" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An <a class="reference internal" href="#term-iterable"><span class="xref std std-term">iterable</span></a> which supports efficient element access using integer
indices via the <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__getitem__" title="object.__getitem__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__getitem__()</span></code></a> special method and defines a
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__len__" title="object.__len__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__len__()</span></code></a> method that returns the length of the sequence.
Some built-in sequence types are <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#list" title="list"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">list</span></code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#str" title="str"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">str</span></code></a>,
<a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#tuple" title="tuple"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">tuple</span></code></a>, and <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#bytes" title="bytes"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bytes</span></code></a>. Note that <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#dict" title="dict"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">dict</span></code></a> also
supports <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__getitem__" title="object.__getitem__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__getitem__()</span></code></a> and <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__len__()</span></code>, but is considered a
mapping rather than a sequence because the lookups use arbitrary
<a class="reference internal" href="#term-immutable"><span class="xref std std-term">immutable</span></a> keys rather than integers.</p>
<p>The <a class="reference internal" href="library/collections.abc.html#collections.abc.Sequence" title="collections.abc.Sequence"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">collections.abc.Sequence</span></code></a> abstract base class
defines a much richer interface that goes beyond just
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__getitem__" title="object.__getitem__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__getitem__()</span></code></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__len__" title="object.__len__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__len__()</span></code></a>, adding
<code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">count()</span></code>, <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">index()</span></code>, <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__contains__" title="object.__contains__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__contains__()</span></code></a>, and
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#object.__reversed__" title="object.__reversed__"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__reversed__()</span></code></a>. Types that implement this expanded
interface can be registered explicitly using
<a class="reference internal" href="library/abc.html#abc.ABCMeta.register" title="abc.ABCMeta.register"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">register()</span></code></a>. For more documentation on sequence
methods generally, see
<a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#typesseq-common"><span class="std std-ref">Common Sequence Operations</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-set-comprehension">set comprehension<a class="headerlink" href="#term-set-comprehension" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A compact way to process all or part of the elements in an iterable and
return a set with the results. <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">results</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">{c</span> <span class="pre">for</span> <span class="pre">c</span> <span class="pre">in</span> <span class="pre">'abracadabra'</span> <span class="pre">if</span>
<span class="pre">c</span> <span class="pre">not</span> <span class="pre">in</span> <span class="pre">'abc'}</span></code> generates the set of strings <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">{'r',</span> <span class="pre">'d'}</span></code>.  See
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/expressions.html#comprehensions"><span class="std std-ref">Displays for lists, sets and dictionaries</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-single-dispatch">single dispatch<a class="headerlink" href="#term-single-dispatch" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A form of <a class="reference internal" href="#term-generic-function"><span class="xref std std-term">generic function</span></a> dispatch where the implementation is
chosen based on the type of a single argument.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-slice">slice<a class="headerlink" href="#term-slice" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An object usually containing a portion of a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-sequence"><span class="xref std std-term">sequence</span></a>.  A slice is
created using the subscript notation, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">[]</span></code> with colons between numbers
when several are given, such as in <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">variable_name[1:3:5]</span></code>.  The bracket
(subscript) notation uses <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#slice" title="slice"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">slice</span></code></a> objects internally.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-special-method">special method<a class="headerlink" href="#term-special-method" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p id="index-34">A method that is called implicitly by Python to execute a certain
operation on a type, such as addition.  Such methods have names starting
and ending with double underscores.  Special methods are documented in
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#specialnames"><span class="std std-ref">Special method names</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-statement">statement<a class="headerlink" href="#term-statement" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A statement is part of a suite (a “block” of code).  A statement is either
an <a class="reference internal" href="#term-expression"><span class="xref std std-term">expression</span></a> or one of several constructs with a keyword, such
as <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#if"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">if</span></code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#while"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">while</span></code></a> or <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#for"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">for</span></code></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-static-type-checker">static type checker<a class="headerlink" href="#term-static-type-checker" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An external tool that reads Python code and analyzes it, looking for
issues such as incorrect types. See also <a class="reference internal" href="#term-type-hint"><span class="xref std std-term">type hints</span></a>
and the <a class="reference internal" href="library/typing.html#module-typing" title="typing: Support for type hints (see :pep:`484`)."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">typing</span></code></a> module.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-strong-reference">strong reference<a class="headerlink" href="#term-strong-reference" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>In Python’s C API, a strong reference is a reference to an object
which is owned by the code holding the reference.  The strong
reference is taken by calling <a class="reference internal" href="c-api/refcounting.html#c.Py_INCREF" title="Py_INCREF"><code class="xref c c-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Py_INCREF()</span></code></a> when the
reference is created and released with <a class="reference internal" href="c-api/refcounting.html#c.Py_DECREF" title="Py_DECREF"><code class="xref c c-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Py_DECREF()</span></code></a>
when the reference is deleted.</p>
<p>The <a class="reference internal" href="c-api/refcounting.html#c.Py_NewRef" title="Py_NewRef"><code class="xref c c-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Py_NewRef()</span></code></a> function can be used to create a strong reference
to an object. Usually, the <a class="reference internal" href="c-api/refcounting.html#c.Py_DECREF" title="Py_DECREF"><code class="xref c c-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Py_DECREF()</span></code></a> function must be called on
the strong reference before exiting the scope of the strong reference, to
avoid leaking one reference.</p>
<p>See also <a class="reference internal" href="#term-borrowed-reference"><span class="xref std std-term">borrowed reference</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-text-encoding">text encoding<a class="headerlink" href="#term-text-encoding" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A string in Python is a sequence of Unicode code points (in range
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">U+0000</span></code>–<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">U+10FFFF</span></code>). To store or transfer a string, it needs to be
serialized as a sequence of bytes.</p>
<p>Serializing a string into a sequence of bytes is known as “encoding”, and
recreating the string from the sequence of bytes is known as “decoding”.</p>
<p>There are a variety of different text serialization
<a class="reference internal" href="library/codecs.html#standard-encodings"><span class="std std-ref">codecs</span></a>, which are collectively referred to as
“text encodings”.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-text-file">text file<a class="headerlink" href="#term-text-file" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A <a class="reference internal" href="#term-file-object"><span class="xref std std-term">file object</span></a> able to read and write <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#str" title="str"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">str</span></code></a> objects.
Often, a text file actually accesses a byte-oriented datastream
and handles the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-text-encoding"><span class="xref std std-term">text encoding</span></a> automatically.
Examples of text files are files opened in text mode (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'r'</span></code> or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'w'</span></code>),
<a class="reference internal" href="library/sys.html#sys.stdin" title="sys.stdin"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.stdin</span></code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="library/sys.html#sys.stdout" title="sys.stdout"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.stdout</span></code></a>, and instances of
<a class="reference internal" href="library/io.html#io.StringIO" title="io.StringIO"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">io.StringIO</span></code></a>.</p>
<p>See also <a class="reference internal" href="#term-binary-file"><span class="xref std std-term">binary file</span></a> for a file object able to read and write
<a class="reference internal" href="#term-bytes-like-object"><span class="xref std std-term">bytes-like objects</span></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-triple-quoted-string">triple-quoted string<a class="headerlink" href="#term-triple-quoted-string" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A string which is bound by three instances of either a quotation mark
(”) or an apostrophe (‘).  While they don’t provide any functionality
not available with single-quoted strings, they are useful for a number
of reasons.  They allow you to include unescaped single and double
quotes within a string and they can span multiple lines without the
use of the continuation character, making them especially useful when
writing docstrings.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-type">type<a class="headerlink" href="#term-type" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>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
<a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#instance.__class__" title="instance.__class__"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__class__</span></code></a> attribute or can be retrieved with
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">type(obj)</span></code>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-type-alias">type alias<a class="headerlink" href="#term-type-alias" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A synonym for a type, created by assigning the type to an identifier.</p>
<p>Type aliases are useful for simplifying <a class="reference internal" href="#term-type-hint"><span class="xref std std-term">type hints</span></a>.
For example:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">remove_gray_shades</span><span class="p">(</span>
        <span class="n">colors</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="nb">list</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="nb">tuple</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">]])</span> <span class="o">-&gt;</span> <span class="nb">list</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="nb">tuple</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">]]:</span>
    <span class="k">pass</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>could be made more readable like this:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">Color</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nb">tuple</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">]</span>

<span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">remove_gray_shades</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">colors</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="nb">list</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="n">Color</span><span class="p">])</span> <span class="o">-&gt;</span> <span class="nb">list</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="n">Color</span><span class="p">]:</span>
    <span class="k">pass</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>See <a class="reference internal" href="library/typing.html#module-typing" title="typing: Support for type hints (see :pep:`484`)."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">typing</span></code></a> and <span class="target" id="index-35"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0484/"><strong>PEP 484</strong></a>, which describe this functionality.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-type-hint">type hint<a class="headerlink" href="#term-type-hint" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An <a class="reference internal" href="#term-annotation"><span class="xref std std-term">annotation</span></a> that specifies the expected type for a variable, a class
attribute, or a function parameter or return value.</p>
<p>Type hints are optional and are not enforced by Python but
they are useful to <a class="reference internal" href="#term-static-type-checker"><span class="xref std std-term">static type checkers</span></a>.
They can also aid IDEs with code completion and refactoring.</p>
<p>Type hints of global variables, class attributes, and functions,
but not local variables, can be accessed using
<a class="reference internal" href="library/typing.html#typing.get_type_hints" title="typing.get_type_hints"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">typing.get_type_hints()</span></code></a>.</p>
<p>See <a class="reference internal" href="library/typing.html#module-typing" title="typing: Support for type hints (see :pep:`484`)."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">typing</span></code></a> and <span class="target" id="index-36"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0484/"><strong>PEP 484</strong></a>, which describe this functionality.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-universal-newlines">universal newlines<a class="headerlink" href="#term-universal-newlines" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A manner of interpreting text streams in which all of the following are
recognized as ending a line: the Unix end-of-line convention <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'\n'</span></code>,
the Windows convention <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'\r\n'</span></code>, and the old Macintosh convention
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'\r'</span></code>.  See <span class="target" id="index-37"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0278/"><strong>PEP 278</strong></a> and <span class="target" id="index-38"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-3116/"><strong>PEP 3116</strong></a>, as well as
<a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#bytes.splitlines" title="bytes.splitlines"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bytes.splitlines()</span></code></a> for an additional use.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-variable-annotation">variable annotation<a class="headerlink" href="#term-variable-annotation" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>An <a class="reference internal" href="#term-annotation"><span class="xref std std-term">annotation</span></a> of a variable or a class attribute.</p>
<p>When annotating a variable or a class attribute, assignment is optional:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">class</span> <span class="nc">C</span><span class="p">:</span>
    <span class="n">field</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;annotation&#39;</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Variable annotations are usually used for
<a class="reference internal" href="#term-type-hint"><span class="xref std std-term">type hints</span></a>: for example this variable is expected to take
<a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#int" title="int"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">int</span></code></a> values:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">count</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="nb">int</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">0</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Variable annotation syntax is explained in section <a class="reference internal" href="reference/simple_stmts.html#annassign"><span class="std std-ref">Annotated assignment statements</span></a>.</p>
<p>See <a class="reference internal" href="#term-function-annotation"><span class="xref std std-term">function annotation</span></a>, <span class="target" id="index-39"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0484/"><strong>PEP 484</strong></a>
and <span class="target" id="index-40"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0526/"><strong>PEP 526</strong></a>, which describe this functionality.
Also see <a class="reference internal" href="howto/annotations.html#annotations-howto"><span class="std std-ref">Annotations Best Practices</span></a>
for best practices on working with annotations.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-virtual-environment">virtual environment<a class="headerlink" href="#term-virtual-environment" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A cooperatively isolated runtime environment that allows Python users
and applications to install and upgrade Python distribution packages
without interfering with the behaviour of other Python applications
running on the same system.</p>
<p>See also <a class="reference internal" href="library/venv.html#module-venv" title="venv: Creation of virtual environments."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">venv</span></code></a>.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-virtual-machine">virtual machine<a class="headerlink" href="#term-virtual-machine" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>A computer defined entirely in software.  Python’s virtual machine
executes the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-bytecode"><span class="xref std std-term">bytecode</span></a> emitted by the bytecode compiler.</p>
</dd>
<dt id="term-Zen-of-Python">Zen of Python<a class="headerlink" href="#term-Zen-of-Python" title="Link to this term">¶</a></dt><dd><p>Listing of Python design principles and philosophies that are helpful in
understanding and using the language.  The listing can be found by typing
“<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span> <span class="pre">this</span></code>” at the interactive prompt.</p>
</dd>
</dl>
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