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 <section id="glossary">
<h1>Glossary<a class="headerlink" href="#glossary" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
<dl class="glossary">
<dt id="term-0"><code class="docutils literal notranslate">&gt;&gt;&gt;</code><a class="headerlink" href="#term-0" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>The default Python prompt of the interactive shell. Often seen for code
examples which can be executed interactively in the interpreter.
</dd>
<dt id="term-..."><code class="docutils literal notranslate">...</code><a class="headerlink" href="#term-..." title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>The default Python prompt of the interactive shell when entering 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.
</dd>
<dt id="term-2to3">2to3<a class="headerlink" href="#term-2to3" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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.
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">lib2to3</code></a>; a standalone
entry point is provided as <code class="file docutils literal notranslate">Tools/scripts/2to3</code>. See
<a class="reference internal" href="library/2to3.html#to3-reference">2to3 - Automated Python 2 to 3 code translation</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-abstract-base-class">abstract base class<a class="headerlink" href="#term-abstract-base-class" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>Abstract base classes complement <a class="reference internal" href="#term-duck-typing">duck-typing</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">hasattr()</code></a> would be clumsy or subtly wrong (for example with
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#new-style-special-lookup">magic methods</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">isinstance()</code></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#issubclass" title="issubclass"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate">issubclass()</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">abc</code></a> module documentation. Python comes with many built-in ABCs for
data structures (in the <a class="reference internal" href="library/collections.html#module-collections" title="collections: High-performance datatypes"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate">collections</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">numbers</code></a> module), and 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">io</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">abc</code></a> module.
</dd>
<dt id="term-argument">argument<a class="headerlink" href="#term-argument" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>A value passed to a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-function">function</a> (or <a class="reference internal" href="#term-method">method</a>) when calling the
function. There are two types of arguments:
<ul>
<li>keyword argument: an argument preceded by an identifier (e.g.
<code class="docutils literal notranslate">name=</code>) in a function call or passed as a value in a dictionary
preceded by <code class="docutils literal notranslate">**</code>. For example, <code class="docutils literal notranslate">3</code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate">5</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">complex()</code></a>:
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre>complex(real=3, imag=5)
complex(**{&#39;real&#39;: 3, &#39;imag&#39;: 5})
</pre></div>
</div>
</li>
<li>positional argument: 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">iterable</a> preceded by <code class="docutils literal notranslate">*</code>.
For example, <code class="docutils literal notranslate">3</code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate">5</code> are both positional arguments in the
following calls:
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre>complex(3, 5)
complex(*(3, 5))
</pre></div>
</div>
</li>
</ul>
Arguments are assigned to the named local variables in a function body.
See the <a class="reference internal" href="reference/expressions.html#calls">Calls</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.
See also the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-parameter">parameter</a> glossary entry and the FAQ question on
<a class="reference internal" href="faq/programming.html#faq-argument-vs-parameter">the difference between arguments and parameters</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-attribute">attribute<a class="headerlink" href="#term-attribute" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>A value associated with an object which is referenced by name using
dotted expressions. For example, if an object o has an attribute
a it would be referenced as o.a.
</dd>
<dt id="term-BDFL">BDFL<a class="headerlink" href="#term-BDFL" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>Benevolent Dictator For Life, a.k.a. <a class="reference external" href="https://www.python.org/~guido/">Guido van Rossum</a>, Python’s creator.
</dd>
<dt id="term-bytes-like-object">bytes-like object<a class="headerlink" href="#term-bytes-like-object" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>An object that supports the <a class="reference internal" href="c-api/buffer.html#bufferobjects">buffer protocol</a>,
like <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#str" title="str"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">str</code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#bytearray" title="bytearray"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">bytearray</code></a> or <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#memoryview" title="memoryview"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">memoryview</code></a>.
Bytes-like objects can be used for various operations that expect
binary data, such as compression, saving to a binary file or sending
over a socket. Some operations need the binary data to be mutable,
in which case not all bytes-like objects can apply.
</dd>
<dt id="term-bytecode">bytecode<a class="headerlink" href="#term-bytecode" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">.pyc</code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate">.pyo</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">virtual machine</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.
A list of bytecode instructions can be found in the documentation for
<a class="reference internal" href="library/dis.html#bytecodes">the dis module</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-class">class<a class="headerlink" href="#term-class" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>A template for creating user-defined objects. Class definitions
normally contain method definitions which operate on instances of the
class.
</dd>
<dt id="term-classic-class">classic class<a class="headerlink" href="#term-classic-class" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>Any class which does not inherit from <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#object" title="object"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">object</code></a>. See
<a class="reference internal" href="#term-new-style-class">new-style class</a>. Classic classes have been removed in Python 3.
</dd>
<dt id="term-coercion">coercion<a class="headerlink" href="#term-coercion" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>The implicit conversion of an instance of one type to another during an
operation which involves two arguments of the same type. For example,
<code class="docutils literal notranslate">int(3.15)</code> converts the floating point number to the integer <code class="docutils literal notranslate">3</code>, but
in <code class="docutils literal notranslate">3+4.5</code>, each argument is of a different type (one int, one float),
and both must be converted to the same type before they can be added or it
will raise a <code class="docutils literal notranslate">TypeError</code>. Coercion between two operands can be
performed with the <code class="docutils literal notranslate">coerce</code> built-in function; thus, <code class="docutils literal notranslate">3+4.5</code> is
equivalent to calling <code class="docutils literal notranslate">operator.add(*coerce(3, 4.5))</code> and results in
<code class="docutils literal notranslate">operator.add(3.0, 4.5)</code>. Without coercion, all arguments of even
compatible types would have to be normalized to the same value by the
programmer, e.g., <code class="docutils literal notranslate">float(3)+4.5</code> rather than just <code class="docutils literal notranslate">3+4.5</code>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-complex-number">complex number<a class="headerlink" href="#term-complex-number" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">-1</code>), often written <code class="docutils literal notranslate">i</code> in mathematics or <code class="docutils literal notranslate">j</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">j</code> suffix, e.g., <code class="docutils literal notranslate">3+1j</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">math</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">cmath</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.
</dd>
<dt id="term-context-manager">context manager<a class="headerlink" href="#term-context-manager" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">with</code></a>
statement by defining <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">__enter__()</code> and <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">__exit__()</code> methods.
See <a class="pep reference external" href="https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0343">PEP 343</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-CPython">CPython<a class="headerlink" href="#term-CPython" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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.
</dd>
<dt id="term-decorator">decorator<a class="headerlink" href="#term-decorator" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>A function returning another function, usually applied as a function
transformation using the <code class="docutils literal notranslate">&#64;wrapper</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">classmethod()</code></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#staticmethod" title="staticmethod"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate">staticmethod()</code></a>.
The decorator syntax is merely syntactic sugar, the following two
function definitions are semantically equivalent:
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre>def f(...):
 ...
f = staticmethod(f)

@staticmethod
def f(...):
 ...
</pre></div>
</div>
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">function definitions</a> and
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#class">class definitions</a> for more about decorators.
</dd>
<dt id="term-descriptor">descriptor<a class="headerlink" href="#term-descriptor" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>Any new-style object which defines the methods <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">__get__()</code>,
<code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">__set__()</code>, or <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">__delete__()</code>. When a class attribute is a
descriptor, its special binding behavior is triggered upon attribute
lookup. Normally, using a.b to get, set or delete an attribute looks up
the object named b in the class dictionary for a, but if b is a
descriptor, the respective descriptor method gets called. Understanding
descriptors is a key to a deep understanding of Python because they are
the basis for many features including functions, methods, properties,
class methods, static methods, and reference to super classes.
For more information about descriptors’ methods, see <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#descriptors">Implementing Descriptors</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-dictionary">dictionary<a class="headerlink" href="#term-dictionary" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>An associative array, where arbitrary keys are mapped to values. The
keys can be any object with <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">__hash__()</code> and <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">__eq__()</code> methods.
Called a hash in Perl.
</dd>
<dt id="term-dictionary-view">dictionary view<a class="headerlink" href="#term-dictionary-view" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>The objects returned from <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#dict.viewkeys" title="dict.viewkeys"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">dict.viewkeys()</code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#dict.viewvalues" title="dict.viewvalues"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">dict.viewvalues()</code></a>,
and <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#dict.viewitems" title="dict.viewitems"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">dict.viewitems()</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">list(dictview)</code>. See
<a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#dict-views">Dictionary view objects</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-docstring">docstring<a class="headerlink" href="#term-docstring" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">__doc__</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.
</dd>
<dt id="term-duck-typing">duck-typing<a class="headerlink" href="#term-duck-typing" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">type()</code></a> or
<a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#isinstance" title="isinstance"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate">isinstance()</code></a>. (Note, however, that duck-typing can be complemented
with <a class="reference internal" href="#term-abstract-base-class">abstract base classes</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">hasattr()</code></a> tests or <a class="reference internal" href="#term-EAFP">EAFP</a> programming.
</dd>
<dt id="term-EAFP">EAFP<a class="headerlink" href="#term-EAFP" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">try</code></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#except"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate">except</code></a>
statements. The technique contrasts with the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-LBYL">LBYL</a> style
common to many other languages such as C.
</dd>
<dt id="term-expression">expression<a class="headerlink" href="#term-expression" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">statement</a>s which cannot be used
as expressions, such as <a class="reference internal" href="reference/simple_stmts.html#print"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate">print</code></a> or <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#if"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate">if</code></a>. Assignments
are also statements, not expressions.
</dd>
<dt id="term-extension-module">extension module<a class="headerlink" href="#term-extension-module" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>A module written in C or C++, using Python’s C API to interact with the
core and with user code.
</dd>
<dt id="term-file-object">file object<a class="headerlink" href="#term-file-object" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>An object exposing a file-oriented API (with methods such as
<code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">read()</code> or <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">write()</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 file-like objects or
streams.
There are actually three categories of file objects: raw binary files,
buffered binary files and text files. 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">io</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">open()</code></a> function.
</dd>
<dt id="term-file-like-object">file-like object<a class="headerlink" href="#term-file-like-object" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>A synonym for <a class="reference internal" href="#term-file-object">file object</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-finder">finder<a class="headerlink" href="#term-finder" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>An object that tries to find the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-loader">loader</a> for a module. It must
implement a method named <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">find_module()</code>. See <a class="pep reference external" href="https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0302">PEP 302</a> for
details.
</dd>
<dt id="term-floor-division">floor division<a class="headerlink" href="#term-floor-division" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>Mathematical division that rounds down to nearest integer. The floor
division operator is <code class="docutils literal notranslate">//</code>. For example, the expression <code class="docutils literal notranslate">11 // 4</code>
evaluates to <code class="docutils literal notranslate">2</code> in contrast to the <code class="docutils literal notranslate">2.75</code> returned by float true
division. Note that <code class="docutils literal notranslate">(-11) // 4</code> is <code class="docutils literal notranslate">-3</code> because that is <code class="docutils literal notranslate">-2.75</code>
rounded downward. See <a class="pep reference external" href="https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0238">PEP 238</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-function">function<a class="headerlink" href="#term-function" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">arguments</a> which may be used in
the execution of the body. See also <a class="reference internal" href="#term-parameter">parameter</a>, <a class="reference internal" href="#term-method">method</a>,
and the <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#function">Function definitions</a> section.
</dd>
<dt id="term-__future__">__future__<a class="headerlink" href="#term-__future__" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>A pseudo-module which programmers can use to enable new language features
which are not compatible with the current interpreter. For example, the
expression <code class="docutils literal notranslate">11/4</code> currently evaluates to <code class="docutils literal notranslate">2</code>. If the module in which
it is executed had enabled true division by executing:
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre>from __future__ import division
</pre></div>
</div>
the expression <code class="docutils literal notranslate">11/4</code> would evaluate to <code class="docutils literal notranslate">2.75</code>. By importing 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">__future__</code></a> module and evaluating its variables, you can see when a
new feature was first added to the language and when it will become the
default:
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre>&gt;&gt;&gt; import __future__
&gt;&gt;&gt; __future__.division
_Feature((2, 2, 0, &#39;alpha&#39;, 2), (3, 0, 0, &#39;alpha&#39;, 0), 8192)
</pre></div>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="term-garbage-collection">garbage collection<a class="headerlink" href="#term-garbage-collection" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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.
</dd>
<dt id="index-3">generator<a class="headerlink" href="#index-3" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>A function which returns an iterator. 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">yield</code></a> statements 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">next()</code></a> function. Each <a class="reference internal" href="reference/simple_stmts.html#yield"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate">yield</code></a> temporarily suspends
processing, remembering the location execution state (including local
variables and pending try-statements). When the generator resumes, it
picks up where it left off (in contrast to functions which start fresh on
every invocation).
</dd>
<dt id="index-4">generator expression<a class="headerlink" href="#index-4" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>An expression that returns an iterator. It looks like a normal expression
followed by a <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#for"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate">for</code></a> expression defining a loop variable, range,
and an optional <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#if"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate">if</code></a> expression. The combined expression
generates values for an enclosing function:
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre>&gt;&gt;&gt; sum(i*i for i in range(10)) # sum of squares 0, 1, 4, ... 81
285
</pre></div>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="term-GIL">GIL<a class="headerlink" href="#term-GIL" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>See <a class="reference internal" href="#term-global-interpreter-lock">global interpreter lock</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-global-interpreter-lock">global interpreter lock<a class="headerlink" href="#term-global-interpreter-lock" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>The mechanism used by the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-CPython">CPython</a> interpreter to assure that
only one thread executes Python <a class="reference internal" href="#term-bytecode">bytecode</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">dict</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.
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.
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.
</dd>
<dt id="term-hashable">hashable<a class="headerlink" href="#term-hashable" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>An object is hashable if it has a hash value which never changes during
its lifetime (it needs a <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">__hash__()</code> method), and can be compared to
other objects (it needs an <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">__eq__()</code> or <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">__cmp__()</code> method).
Hashable objects which compare equal must have the same hash value.
Hashability makes an object usable as a dictionary key and a set member,
because these data structures use the hash value internally.
All of Python’s immutable built-in objects are hashable, while no mutable
containers (such as lists or dictionaries) are. 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">id()</code></a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-IDLE">IDLE<a class="headerlink" href="#term-IDLE" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>An Integrated Development Environment for Python. IDLE is a basic editor
and interpreter environment which ships with the standard distribution of
Python.
</dd>
<dt id="term-immutable">immutable<a class="headerlink" href="#term-immutable" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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.
</dd>
<dt id="term-integer-division">integer division<a class="headerlink" href="#term-integer-division" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>Mathematical division discarding any remainder. For example, the
expression <code class="docutils literal notranslate">11/4</code> currently evaluates to <code class="docutils literal notranslate">2</code> in contrast to the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate">2.75</code> returned by float division. Also called floor division.
When dividing two integers the outcome will always be another integer
(having the floor function applied to it). However, if one of the operands
is another numeric type (such as a <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#float" title="float"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">float</code></a>), the result will be
coerced (see <a class="reference internal" href="#term-coercion">coercion</a>) to a common type. For example, an integer
divided by a float will result in a float value, possibly with a decimal
fraction. Integer division can be forced by using the <code class="docutils literal notranslate">//</code> operator
instead of the <code class="docutils literal notranslate">/</code> operator. See also <a class="reference internal" href="#term-__future__">__future__</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-importing">importing<a class="headerlink" href="#term-importing" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>The process by which Python code in one module is made available to
Python code in another module.
</dd>
<dt id="term-importer">importer<a class="headerlink" href="#term-importer" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>An object that both finds and loads a module; both a
<a class="reference internal" href="#term-finder">finder</a> and <a class="reference internal" href="#term-loader">loader</a> object.
</dd>
<dt id="term-interactive">interactive<a class="headerlink" href="#term-interactive" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">python</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">help(x)</code>).
</dd>
<dt id="term-interpreted">interpreted<a class="headerlink" href="#term-interpreted" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">interactive</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-iterable">iterable<a class="headerlink" href="#term-iterable" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>An object capable of returning its members one at a time. Examples of
iterables include all sequence types (such as <code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">list</code>, <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#str" title="str"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">str</code></a>,
and <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#tuple" title="tuple"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">tuple</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">dict</code></a>
and <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#file" title="file"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">file</code></a> and objects of any classes you define
with an <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">__iter__()</code> or <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">__getitem__()</code> method. 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">for</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">zip()</code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#map" title="map"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate">map()</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">iter()</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">iter()</code></a> or deal with iterator objects yourself. The <code class="docutils literal notranslate">for</code>
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">iterator</a>, <a class="reference internal" href="#term-sequence">sequence</a>, and <a class="reference internal" href="#term-generator">generator</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-iterator">iterator<a class="headerlink" href="#term-iterator" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>An object representing a stream of data. Repeated calls to the iterator’s
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/expressions.html#generator.next" title="generator.next"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">next()</code></a> method return successive items in the stream. When no more
data are available a <code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate">StopIteration</code> exception is raised instead. At
this point, the iterator object is exhausted and any further calls to its
<a class="reference internal" href="reference/expressions.html#generator.next" title="generator.next"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">next()</code></a> method just raise <code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate">StopIteration</code> again. Iterators are
required to have an <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">__iter__()</code> 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
<code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">list</code>) 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">iter()</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">for</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.
More information can be found in <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#typeiter">Iterator Types</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-key-function">key function<a class="headerlink" href="#term-key-function" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">locale.strxfrm()</code></a> is
used to produce a sort key that is aware of locale specific sort
conventions.
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">min()</code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#max" title="max"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate">max()</code></a>,
<a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#sorted" title="sorted"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate">sorted()</code></a>, <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">list.sort()</code>, <a class="reference internal" href="library/heapq.html#heapq.nsmallest" title="heapq.nsmallest"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate">heapq.nsmallest()</code></a>,
<a class="reference internal" href="library/heapq.html#heapq.nlargest" title="heapq.nlargest"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate">heapq.nlargest()</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">itertools.groupby()</code></a>.
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">str.lower()</code></a> method can serve as a key function for case insensitive
sorts. Alternatively, an ad-hoc 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">lambda</code></a> expression such as <code class="docutils literal notranslate">lambda r: (r[0], r[2])</code>. Also,
the <a class="reference internal" href="library/operator.html#module-operator" title="operator: Functions corresponding to the standard operators."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate">operator</code></a> module provides three key function constructors:
<a class="reference internal" href="library/operator.html#operator.attrgetter" title="operator.attrgetter"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate">attrgetter()</code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="library/operator.html#operator.itemgetter" title="operator.itemgetter"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate">itemgetter()</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">methodcaller()</code></a>. See the <a class="reference internal" href="howto/sorting.html#sortinghowto">Sorting HOW TO</a> for examples of how to create and use key functions.
</dd>
<dt id="term-keyword-argument">keyword argument<a class="headerlink" href="#term-keyword-argument" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>See <a class="reference internal" href="#term-argument">argument</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-lambda">lambda<a class="headerlink" href="#term-lambda" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>An anonymous inline function consisting of a single <a class="reference internal" href="#term-expression">expression</a>
which is evaluated when the function is called. The syntax to create
a lambda function is <code class="docutils literal notranslate">lambda [parameters]: expression</code>
</dd>
<dt id="term-LBYL">LBYL<a class="headerlink" href="#term-LBYL" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">EAFP</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">if</code></a> statements.
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">if key in mapping: return mapping[key]</code> can fail if another
thread removes key from mapping after the test, but before the lookup.
This issue can be solved with locks or by using the EAFP approach.
</dd>
<dt id="term-list">list<a class="headerlink" href="#term-list" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>A built-in Python <a class="reference internal" href="#term-sequence">sequence</a>. Despite its name it is more akin
to an array in other languages than to a linked list since access to
elements is O(1).
</dd>
<dt id="term-list-comprehension">list comprehension<a class="headerlink" href="#term-list-comprehension" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">result = [&quot;0x%02x&quot; % x for x in
range(256) if x % 2 == 0]</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">if</code></a>
clause is optional. If omitted, all elements in <code class="docutils literal notranslate">range(256)</code> are
processed.
</dd>
<dt id="term-loader">loader<a class="headerlink" href="#term-loader" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>An object that loads a module. It must define a method named
<code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">load_module()</code>. A loader is typically returned by a
<a class="reference internal" href="#term-finder">finder</a>. See <a class="pep reference external" href="https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0302">PEP 302</a> for details.
</dd>
<dt id="term-magic-method">magic method<a class="headerlink" href="#term-magic-method" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>An informal synonym for <a class="reference internal" href="#term-special-method">special method</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-mapping">mapping<a class="headerlink" href="#term-mapping" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>A container object that supports arbitrary key lookups and implements the
methods specified in the <a class="reference internal" href="library/collections.html#collections.Mapping" title="collections.Mapping"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">Mapping</code></a> or
<a class="reference internal" href="library/collections.html#collections.MutableMapping" title="collections.MutableMapping"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">MutableMapping</code></a>
<a class="reference internal" href="library/collections.html#collections-abstract-base-classes">abstract base classes</a>. Examples
include <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#dict" title="dict"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">dict</code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="library/collections.html#collections.defaultdict" title="collections.defaultdict"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">collections.defaultdict</code></a>,
<a class="reference internal" href="library/collections.html#collections.OrderedDict" title="collections.OrderedDict"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">collections.OrderedDict</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">collections.Counter</code></a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-metaclass">metaclass<a class="headerlink" href="#term-metaclass" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>The class of a class. Class definitions create a class name, a class
dictionary, and a list of base classes. The metaclass is responsible for
taking those three arguments and creating the class. Most object oriented
programming languages provide a default implementation. What makes Python
special is that it is possible to create custom metaclasses. Most users
never need this tool, but when the need arises, metaclasses can provide
powerful, elegant solutions. They have been used for logging attribute
access, adding thread-safety, tracking object creation, implementing
singletons, and many other tasks.
More information can be found in <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#metaclasses">Customizing class creation</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-method">method<a class="headerlink" href="#term-method" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">argument</a> (which is usually called <code class="docutils literal notranslate">self</code>).
See <a class="reference internal" href="#term-function">function</a> and <a class="reference internal" href="#term-nested-scope">nested scope</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-method-resolution-order">method resolution order<a class="headerlink" href="#term-method-resolution-order" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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.
</dd>
<dt id="term-module">module<a class="headerlink" href="#term-module" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">importing</a>.
See also <a class="reference internal" href="#term-package">package</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-MRO">MRO<a class="headerlink" href="#term-MRO" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>See <a class="reference internal" href="#term-method-resolution-order">method resolution order</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-mutable">mutable<a class="headerlink" href="#term-mutable" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">id()</code></a>. See
also <a class="reference internal" href="#term-immutable">immutable</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-named-tuple">named tuple<a class="headerlink" href="#term-named-tuple" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>Any tuple-like class whose indexable elements are also accessible using
named attributes (for example, <a class="reference internal" href="library/time.html#time.localtime" title="time.localtime"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate">time.localtime()</code></a> returns a
tuple-like object where the year is accessible either with an
index such as <code class="docutils literal notranslate">t[0]</code> or with a named attribute like <code class="docutils literal notranslate">t.tm_year</code>).
A named tuple can be a built-in type such as <a class="reference internal" href="library/time.html#time.struct_time" title="time.struct_time"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">time.struct_time</code></a>,
or it can be created with a regular class definition. A full featured
named tuple can also be created 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">collections.namedtuple()</code></a>. The latter approach automatically
provides extra features such as a self-documenting representation like
<code class="docutils literal notranslate">Employee(name='jones', title='programmer')</code>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-namespace">namespace<a class="headerlink" href="#term-namespace" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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
<code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate">__builtin__.open()</code> and <a class="reference internal" href="library/os.html#os.open" title="os.open"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate">os.open()</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">random.seed()</code></a> or <a class="reference internal" href="library/itertools.html#itertools.izip" title="itertools.izip"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate">itertools.izip()</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">random</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">itertools</code></a>
modules, respectively.
</dd>
<dt id="term-nested-scope">nested scope<a class="headerlink" href="#term-nested-scope" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>The ability to refer to a variable in an enclosing definition. For
instance, a function defined inside another function can refer to
variables in the outer function. Note that nested scopes work only for
reference and not for assignment which will always write to the innermost
scope. In contrast, local variables both read and write in the innermost
scope. Likewise, global variables read and write to the global namespace.
</dd>
<dt id="term-new-style-class">new-style class<a class="headerlink" href="#term-new-style-class" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>Any class which inherits from <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#object" title="object"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">object</code></a>. This includes all built-in
types like <code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">list</code> and <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#dict" title="dict"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">dict</code></a>. Only new-style classes can
use Python’s newer, versatile features like <code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate">__slots__</code>,
descriptors, properties, and <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">__getattribute__()</code>.
More information can be found in <a class="reference internal" href="reference/datamodel.html#newstyle">New-style and classic classes</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-object">object<a class="headerlink" href="#term-object" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">new-style
class</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-package">package<a class="headerlink" href="#term-package" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>A Python <a class="reference internal" href="#term-module">module</a> which can contain submodules or recursively,
subpackages. Technically, a package is a Python module with an
<code class="docutils literal notranslate">__path__</code> attribute.
</dd>
<dt id="term-parameter">parameter<a class="headerlink" href="#term-parameter" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>A named entity in a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-function">function</a> (or method) definition that
specifies an <a class="reference internal" href="#term-argument">argument</a> (or in some cases, arguments) that the
function can accept. There are four types of parameters:
<ul>
<li>positional-or-keyword: specifies an argument that can be passed
either <a class="reference internal" href="#term-argument">positionally</a> or as a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-argument">keyword argument</a>. This is the default kind of parameter, for example foo
and bar in the following:
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre>def func(foo, bar=None): ...
</pre></div>
</div>
</li>
<li>positional-only: specifies an argument that can be supplied only
by position. Python has no syntax for defining positional-only
parameters. However, some built-in functions have positional-only
parameters (e.g. <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#abs" title="abs"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate">abs()</code></a>).</li>
<li>var-positional: 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">*</code>, for example
args in the following:
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre>def func(*args, **kwargs): ...
</pre></div>
</div>
</li>
<li>var-keyword: 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">**</code>, for example kwargs in the example
above.</li>
</ul>
Parameters can specify both optional and required arguments, as well as
default values for some optional arguments.
See also the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-argument">argument</a> glossary entry, the FAQ question on
<a class="reference internal" href="faq/programming.html#faq-argument-vs-parameter">the difference between arguments and parameters</a>, and the <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#function">Function definitions</a> section.
</dd>
<dt id="term-PEP">PEP<a class="headerlink" href="#term-PEP" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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.
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.
See <a class="pep reference external" href="https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0001">PEP 1</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-positional-argument">positional argument<a class="headerlink" href="#term-positional-argument" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>See <a class="reference internal" href="#term-argument">argument</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-Python-3000">Python 3000<a class="headerlink" href="#term-Python-3000" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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”.
</dd>
<dt id="term-Pythonic">Pythonic<a class="headerlink" href="#term-Pythonic" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">for</code></a>
statement. Many other languages don’t have this type of construct, so
people unfamiliar with Python sometimes use a numerical counter instead:
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre>for i in range(len(food)):
 print food[i]
</pre></div>
</div>
As opposed to the cleaner, Pythonic method:
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre>for piece in food:
 print piece
</pre></div>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="term-reference-count">reference count<a class="headerlink" href="#term-reference-count" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>The number of references to an object. When the reference count of an
object drops to zero, it is 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">CPython</a> implementation. The <a class="reference internal" href="library/sys.html#module-sys" title="sys: Access system-specific parameters and functions."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate">sys</code></a> module defines a
<a class="reference internal" href="library/sys.html#sys.getrefcount" title="sys.getrefcount"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate">getrefcount()</code></a> function that programmers can call to return the
reference count for a particular object.
</dd>
<dt id="term-__slots__">__slots__<a class="headerlink" href="#term-__slots__" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>A declaration inside a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-new-style-class">new-style class</a> 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.
</dd>
<dt id="term-sequence">sequence<a class="headerlink" href="#term-sequence" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>An <a class="reference internal" href="#term-iterable">iterable</a> which supports efficient element access using integer
indices via the <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">__getitem__()</code> special method and defines a
<a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#len" title="len"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">len()</code></a> method that returns the length of the sequence.
Some built-in sequence types are <code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">list</code>, <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#str" title="str"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">str</code></a>,
<a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#tuple" title="tuple"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">tuple</code></a>, and <a class="reference internal" href="library/functions.html#unicode" title="unicode"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">unicode</code></a>. Note that <a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#dict" title="dict"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate">dict</code></a> also
supports <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">__getitem__()</code> and <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">__len__()</code>, but is considered a
mapping rather than a sequence because the lookups use arbitrary
<a class="reference internal" href="#term-immutable">immutable</a> keys rather than integers.
</dd>
<dt id="term-slice">slice<a class="headerlink" href="#term-slice" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>An object usually containing a portion of a <a class="reference internal" href="#term-sequence">sequence</a>. A slice is
created using the subscript notation, <code class="docutils literal notranslate">[]</code> with colons between numbers
when several are given, such as in <code class="docutils literal notranslate">variable_name[1:3:5]</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">slice</code></a> objects internally (or in older
versions, <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">__getslice__()</code> and <code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">__setslice__()</code>).
</dd>
<dt id="term-special-method">special method<a class="headerlink" href="#term-special-method" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">Special method names</a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-statement">statement<a class="headerlink" href="#term-statement" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>A statement is part of a suite (a “block” of code). A statement is either
an <a class="reference internal" href="#term-expression">expression</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">if</code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#while"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate">while</code></a> or <a class="reference internal" href="reference/compound_stmts.html#for"><code class="xref std std-keyword docutils literal notranslate">for</code></a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-struct-sequence">struct sequence<a class="headerlink" href="#term-struct-sequence" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>A tuple with named elements. Struct sequences expose an interface similiar
to <a class="reference internal" href="#term-named-tuple">named tuple</a> in that elements can be accessed either by
index or as an attribute. However, they do not have any of the named tuple
methods like <a class="reference internal" href="library/collections.html#collections.somenamedtuple._make" title="collections.somenamedtuple._make"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">_make()</code></a> or
<a class="reference internal" href="library/collections.html#collections.somenamedtuple._asdict" title="collections.somenamedtuple._asdict"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate">_asdict()</code></a>. Examples of struct sequences
include <a class="reference internal" href="library/sys.html#sys.float_info" title="sys.float_info"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate">sys.float_info</code></a> and the return value of <a class="reference internal" href="library/os.html#os.stat" title="os.stat"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate">os.stat()</code></a>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-triple-quoted-string">triple-quoted string<a class="headerlink" href="#term-triple-quoted-string" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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.
</dd>
<dt id="term-type">type<a class="headerlink" href="#term-type" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">__class__</code></a> attribute or can be retrieved with
<code class="docutils literal notranslate">type(obj)</code>.
</dd>
<dt id="term-universal-newlines">universal newlines<a class="headerlink" href="#term-universal-newlines" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">'\n'</code>,
the Windows convention <code class="docutils literal notranslate">'\r\n'</code>, and the old Macintosh convention
<code class="docutils literal notranslate">'\r'</code>. See <a class="pep reference external" href="https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0278">PEP 278</a> and <a class="pep reference external" href="https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-3116">PEP 3116</a>, as well as
<a class="reference internal" href="library/stdtypes.html#str.splitlines" title="str.splitlines"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate">str.splitlines()</code></a> for an additional use.
</dd>
<dt id="term-virtual-environment">virtual environment<a class="headerlink" href="#term-virtual-environment" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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.
</dd>
<dt id="term-virtual-machine">virtual machine<a class="headerlink" href="#term-virtual-machine" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>A computer defined entirely in software. Python’s virtual machine
executes the <a class="reference internal" href="#term-bytecode">bytecode</a> emitted by the bytecode compiler.
</dd>
<dt id="term-Zen-of-Python">Zen of Python<a class="headerlink" href="#term-Zen-of-Python" title="Permalink to this term">¶</a></dt><dd>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">import this</code>” at the interactive prompt.
</dd>
</dl>
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