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@brianspiering
Last active July 14, 2019 17:17
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Understanding `_` in Python
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"cell_type": "markdown",
"metadata": {
"toc": true
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"source": [
"<h1>Table of Contents<span class=\"tocSkip\"></span></h1>\n",
"<div class=\"toc\"><ul class=\"toc-item\"></ul></div>"
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"> Namespaces are one honking great idea -- let's do more of those!\n",
"— from \"The Zen of Python\"\n",
"\n",
"Namespaces keep things organized. \n",
"\n",
"You don't want to add unnecessary variables to the namespace."
]
},
{
"cell_type": "code",
"execution_count": 10,
"metadata": {},
"outputs": [],
"source": [
"reset -fs"
]
},
{
"cell_type": "code",
"execution_count": 11,
"metadata": {},
"outputs": [
{
"name": "stdout",
"output_type": "stream",
"text": [
"Interactive namespace is empty.\n"
]
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"source": [
"whos"
]
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{
"cell_type": "code",
"execution_count": 12,
"metadata": {},
"outputs": [
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"name": "stdout",
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"text": [
"hi\n",
"hi\n",
"hi\n",
"hi\n",
"hi\n"
]
}
],
"source": [
"for i in range(5):\n",
" print('hi')"
]
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{
"cell_type": "code",
"execution_count": 13,
"metadata": {},
"outputs": [
{
"name": "stdout",
"output_type": "stream",
"text": [
"Variable Type Data/Info\n",
"----------------------------\n",
"i int 4\n"
]
}
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"whos"
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"`i` is in the namespace but is never used (and will never be used again)\n",
"\n",
"It is better to use a temporary variable that does not stay in the namespace."
]
},
{
"cell_type": "code",
"execution_count": 14,
"metadata": {},
"outputs": [],
"source": [
"reset -fs"
]
},
{
"cell_type": "code",
"execution_count": 15,
"metadata": {},
"outputs": [
{
"name": "stdout",
"output_type": "stream",
"text": [
"Interactive namespace is empty.\n"
]
}
],
"source": [
"whos"
]
},
{
"cell_type": "code",
"execution_count": 16,
"metadata": {},
"outputs": [
{
"name": "stdout",
"output_type": "stream",
"text": [
"hi\n",
"hi\n",
"hi\n",
"hi\n",
"hi\n"
]
}
],
"source": [
"for _ in range(5):\n",
" print('hi')"
]
},
{
"cell_type": "code",
"execution_count": 17,
"metadata": {},
"outputs": [
{
"name": "stdout",
"output_type": "stream",
"text": [
"Interactive namespace is empty.\n"
]
}
],
"source": [
"whos"
]
},
{
"cell_type": "markdown",
"metadata": {},
"source": [
"`_` is not in the namespace because it not needed."
]
},
{
"cell_type": "markdown",
"metadata": {},
"source": [
" "
]
}
],
"metadata": {
"kernelspec": {
"display_name": "Python 3",
"language": "python",
"name": "python3"
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"version": "3.7.3"
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"base_numbering": 1,
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"title_sidebar": "Contents",
"toc_cell": true,
"toc_position": {},
"toc_section_display": true,
"toc_window_display": false
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"nbformat": 4,
"nbformat_minor": 2
}
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