PHP compact() function in Python

compact.py

def compact(*args):
    ''' compact() function, analoguous to the PHP version.
    Converts a series of (possible nested) iterables containing variable names
    into a dictionary mapping those names to variable values.
    Example:
    >>> x, y, z, a, b, c = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
    >>> compact('x', ['y','z'], ['a', ['b'], [['c']]])
    {'a': 4, 'b': 5, 'c': 6, 'x': 1, 'y': 2, 'z': 3}
    '''
    def _compact_arg(res, arg):
        if isinstance(arg, basestring):
            res[arg] = locals()[arg] if arg in locals() else globals()[arg]
        else:
            res.update(compact(*arg))
        return res
    return reduce(_compact_arg, args, {})

# tested a bit but not thoroughly