cpython/Doc/reference/simple_stmts.rst

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.. _simple:
*****************
Simple statements
*****************
.. index:: pair: simple; statement
Simple statements are comprised within a single logical line. Several simple
statements may occur on a single line separated by semicolons. The syntax for
simple statements is:
.. productionlist::
simple_stmt: `expression_stmt`
: | `assert_stmt`
: | `assignment_stmt`
: | `augmented_assignment_stmt`
: | `pass_stmt`
: | `del_stmt`
: | `return_stmt`
: | `yield_stmt`
: | `raise_stmt`
: | `break_stmt`
: | `continue_stmt`
: | `import_stmt`
: | `global_stmt`
.. _exprstmts:
Expression statements
=====================
.. index:: pair: expression; statement
Expression statements are used (mostly interactively) to compute and write a
value, or (usually) to call a procedure (a function that returns no meaningful
result; in Python, procedures return the value ``None``). Other uses of
expression statements are allowed and occasionally useful. The syntax for an
expression statement is:
.. productionlist::
expression_stmt: `expression_list`
.. index:: pair: expression; list
An expression statement evaluates the expression list (which may be a single
expression).
.. index::
builtin: repr
object: None
pair: string; conversion
single: output
pair: standard; output
pair: writing; values
pair: procedure; call
In interactive mode, if the value is not ``None``, it is converted to a string
using the built-in :func:`repr` function and the resulting string is written to
standard output (see :func:`print`) on a line by itself. (Expression
statements yielding ``None`` are not written, so that procedure calls do not
cause any output.)
.. _assert:
Assert statements
=================
.. index::
statement: assert
pair: debugging; assertions
Assert statements are a convenient way to insert debugging assertions into a
program:
.. productionlist::
assert_stmt: "assert" `expression` ["," `expression`]
The simple form, ``assert expression``, is equivalent to ::
if __debug__:
if not expression: raise AssertionError
The extended form, ``assert expression1, expression2``, is equivalent to ::
if __debug__:
if not expression1: raise AssertionError, expression2
.. index::
single: __debug__
exception: AssertionError
These equivalences assume that ``__debug__`` and :exc:`AssertionError` refer to
the built-in variables with those names. In the current implementation, the
built-in variable ``__debug__`` is ``True`` under normal circumstances,
``False`` when optimization is requested (command line option -O). The current
code generator emits no code for an assert statement when optimization is
requested at compile time. Note that it is unnecessary to include the source
code for the expression that failed in the error message; it will be displayed
as part of the stack trace.
Assignments to ``__debug__`` are illegal. The value for the built-in variable
is determined when the interpreter starts.
.. _assignment:
Assignment statements
=====================
.. index::
pair: assignment; statement
pair: binding; name
pair: rebinding; name
object: mutable
pair: attribute; assignment
Assignment statements are used to (re)bind names to values and to modify
attributes or items of mutable objects:
.. productionlist::
assignment_stmt: (`target_list` "=")+ (`expression_list` | `yield_expression`)
target_list: `target` ("," `target`)* [","]
target: `identifier`
: | "(" `target_list` ")"
: | "[" `target_list` "]"
: | `attributeref`
: | `subscription`
: | `slicing`
(See section :ref:`primaries` for the syntax definitions for the last three
symbols.)
.. index:: pair: expression; list
An assignment statement evaluates the expression list (remember that this can be
a single expression or a comma-separated list, the latter yielding a tuple) and
assigns the single resulting object to each of the target lists, from left to
right.
.. index::
single: target
pair: target; list
Assignment is defined recursively depending on the form of the target (list).
When a target is part of a mutable object (an attribute reference, subscription
or slicing), the mutable object must ultimately perform the assignment and
decide about its validity, and may raise an exception if the assignment is
unacceptable. The rules observed by various types and the exceptions raised are
given with the definition of the object types (see section :ref:`types`).
.. index:: triple: target; list; assignment
Assignment of an object to a target list is recursively defined as follows.
* If the target list is a single target: The object is assigned to that target.
* If the target list is a comma-separated list of targets: The object must be a
sequence with the same number of items as there are targets in the target list,
and the items are assigned, from left to right, to the corresponding targets.
(This rule is relaxed as of Python 1.5; in earlier versions, the object had to
be a tuple. Since strings are sequences, an assignment like ``a, b = "xy"`` is
now legal as long as the string has the right length.)
Assignment of an object to a single target is recursively defined as follows.
* If the target is an identifier (name):
.. index:: statement: global
* If the name does not occur in a :keyword:`global` statement in the current
code block: the name is bound to the object in the current local namespace.
* Otherwise: the name is bound to the object in the current global namespace.
.. index:: single: destructor
The name is rebound if it was already bound. This may cause the reference count
for the object previously bound to the name to reach zero, causing the object to
be deallocated and its destructor (if it has one) to be called.
.. % nested
* If the target is a target list enclosed in parentheses or in square brackets:
The object must be a sequence with the same number of items as there are targets
in the target list, and its items are assigned, from left to right, to the
corresponding targets.
.. index:: pair: attribute; assignment
* If the target is an attribute reference: The primary expression in the
reference is evaluated. It should yield an object with assignable attributes;
if this is not the case, :exc:`TypeError` is raised. That object is then asked
to assign the assigned object to the given attribute; if it cannot perform the
assignment, it raises an exception (usually but not necessarily
:exc:`AttributeError`).
.. index::
pair: subscription; assignment
object: mutable
* If the target is a subscription: The primary expression in the reference is
evaluated. It should yield either a mutable sequence object (such as a list) or
a mapping object (such as a dictionary). Next, the subscript expression is
evaluated.
.. index::
object: sequence
object: list
If the primary is a mutable sequence object (such as a list), the subscript must
yield a plain integer. If it is negative, the sequence's length is added to it.
The resulting value must be a nonnegative integer less than the sequence's
length, and the sequence is asked to assign the assigned object to its item with
that index. If the index is out of range, :exc:`IndexError` is raised
(assignment to a subscripted sequence cannot add new items to a list).
.. index::
object: mapping
object: dictionary
If the primary is a mapping object (such as a dictionary), the subscript must
have a type compatible with the mapping's key type, and the mapping is then
asked to create a key/datum pair which maps the subscript to the assigned
object. This can either replace an existing key/value pair with the same key
value, or insert a new key/value pair (if no key with the same value existed).
.. index:: pair: slicing; assignment
* If the target is a slicing: The primary expression in the reference is
evaluated. It should yield a mutable sequence object (such as a list). The
assigned object should be a sequence object of the same type. Next, the lower
and upper bound expressions are evaluated, insofar they are present; defaults
are zero and the sequence's length. The bounds should evaluate to (small)
integers. If either bound is negative, the sequence's length is added to it.
The resulting bounds are clipped to lie between zero and the sequence's length,
inclusive. Finally, the sequence object is asked to replace the slice with the
items of the assigned sequence. The length of the slice may be different from
the length of the assigned sequence, thus changing the length of the target
sequence, if the object allows it.
(In the current implementation, the syntax for targets is taken to be the same
as for expressions, and invalid syntax is rejected during the code generation
phase, causing less detailed error messages.)
WARNING: Although the definition of assignment implies that overlaps between the
left-hand side and the right-hand side are 'safe' (for example ``a, b = b, a``
swaps two variables), overlaps *within* the collection of assigned-to variables
are not safe! For instance, the following program prints ``[0, 2]``::
x = [0, 1]
i = 0
i, x[i] = 1, 2
print x
.. _augassign:
Augmented assignment statements
-------------------------------
.. index::
pair: augmented; assignment
single: statement; assignment, augmented
Augmented assignment is the combination, in a single statement, of a binary
operation and an assignment statement:
.. productionlist::
augmented_assignment_stmt: `target` `augop` (`expression_list` | `yield_expression`)
augop: "+=" | "-=" | "*=" | "/=" | "%=" | "**="
: | ">>=" | "<<=" | "&=" | "^=" | "|="
(See section :ref:`primaries` for the syntax definitions for the last three
symbols.)
An augmented assignment evaluates the target (which, unlike normal assignment
statements, cannot be an unpacking) and the expression list, performs the binary
operation specific to the type of assignment on the two operands, and assigns
the result to the original target. The target is only evaluated once.
An augmented assignment expression like ``x += 1`` can be rewritten as ``x = x +
1`` to achieve a similar, but not exactly equal effect. In the augmented
version, ``x`` is only evaluated once. Also, when possible, the actual operation
is performed *in-place*, meaning that rather than creating a new object and
assigning that to the target, the old object is modified instead.
With the exception of assigning to tuples and multiple targets in a single
statement, the assignment done by augmented assignment statements is handled the
same way as normal assignments. Similarly, with the exception of the possible
*in-place* behavior, the binary operation performed by augmented assignment is
the same as the normal binary operations.
For targets which are attribute references, the initial value is retrieved with
a :meth:`getattr` and the result is assigned with a :meth:`setattr`. Notice
that the two methods do not necessarily refer to the same variable. When
:meth:`getattr` refers to a class variable, :meth:`setattr` still writes to an
instance variable. For example::
class A:
x = 3 # class variable
a = A()
a.x += 1 # writes a.x as 4 leaving A.x as 3
.. _pass:
The :keyword:`pass` statement
=============================
.. index:: statement: pass
.. productionlist::
pass_stmt: "pass"
.. index:: pair: null; operation
:keyword:`pass` is a null operation --- when it is executed, nothing happens.
It is useful as a placeholder when a statement is required syntactically, but no
code needs to be executed, for example::
def f(arg): pass # a function that does nothing (yet)
class C: pass # a class with no methods (yet)
.. _del:
The :keyword:`del` statement
============================
.. index:: statement: del
.. productionlist::
del_stmt: "del" `target_list`
.. index::
pair: deletion; target
triple: deletion; target; list
Deletion is recursively defined very similar to the way assignment is defined.
Rather that spelling it out in full details, here are some hints.
Deletion of a target list recursively deletes each target, from left to right.
.. index::
statement: global
pair: unbinding; name
Deletion of a name removes the binding of that name from the local or global
namespace, depending on whether the name occurs in a :keyword:`global` statement
in the same code block. If the name is unbound, a :exc:`NameError` exception
will be raised.
.. index:: pair: free; variable
It is illegal to delete a name from the local namespace if it occurs as a free
variable in a nested block.
.. index:: pair: attribute; deletion
Deletion of attribute references, subscriptions and slicings is passed to the
primary object involved; deletion of a slicing is in general equivalent to
assignment of an empty slice of the right type (but even this is determined by
the sliced object).
.. _return:
The :keyword:`return` statement
===============================
.. index:: statement: return
.. productionlist::
return_stmt: "return" [`expression_list`]
.. index::
pair: function; definition
pair: class; definition
:keyword:`return` may only occur syntactically nested in a function definition,
not within a nested class definition.
If an expression list is present, it is evaluated, else ``None`` is substituted.
:keyword:`return` leaves the current function call with the expression list (or
``None``) as return value.
.. index:: keyword: finally
When :keyword:`return` passes control out of a :keyword:`try` statement with a
:keyword:`finally` clause, that :keyword:`finally` clause is executed before
really leaving the function.
In a generator function, the :keyword:`return` statement is not allowed to
include an :token:`expression_list`. In that context, a bare :keyword:`return`
indicates that the generator is done and will cause :exc:`StopIteration` to be
raised.
.. _yield:
The :keyword:`yield` statement
==============================
.. index:: statement: yield
.. productionlist::
yield_stmt: `yield_expression`
.. index::
single: generator; function
single: generator; iterator
single: function; generator
exception: StopIteration
The :keyword:`yield` statement is only used when defining a generator function,
and is only used in the body of the generator function. Using a :keyword:`yield`
statement in a function definition is sufficient to cause that definition to
create a generator function instead of a normal function.
When a generator function is called, it returns an iterator known as a generator
iterator, or more commonly, a generator. The body of the generator function is
executed by calling the generator's :meth:`__next__` method repeatedly until it
raises an exception.
When a :keyword:`yield` statement is executed, the state of the generator is
frozen and the value of :token:`expression_list` is returned to
:meth:`__next__`'s caller. By "frozen" we mean that all local state is
retained, including the current bindings of local variables, the instruction
pointer, and the internal evaluation stack: enough information is saved so that
the next time :meth:`__next__` is invoked, the function can proceed exactly as
if the :keyword:`yield` statement were just another external call.
As of Python version 2.5, the :keyword:`yield` statement is now allowed in the
:keyword:`try` clause of a :keyword:`try` ... :keyword:`finally` construct. If
the generator is not resumed before it is finalized (by reaching a zero
reference count or by being garbage collected), the generator-iterator's
:meth:`close` method will be called, allowing any pending :keyword:`finally`
clauses to execute.
.. note::
In Python 2.2, the :keyword:`yield` statement is only allowed when the
``generators`` feature has been enabled. It will always be enabled in Python
2.3. This ``__future__`` import statement can be used to enable the feature::
from __future__ import generators
.. seealso::
:pep:`0255` - Simple Generators
The proposal for adding generators and the :keyword:`yield` statement to Python.
:pep:`0342` - Coroutines via Enhanced Generators
The proposal that, among other generator enhancements, proposed allowing
:keyword:`yield` to appear inside a :keyword:`try` ... :keyword:`finally` block.
.. _raise:
The :keyword:`raise` statement
==============================
.. index:: statement: raise
.. productionlist::
raise_stmt: "raise" [`expression` ["," `expression` ["," `expression`]]]
.. index::
single: exception
pair: raising; exception
If no expressions are present, :keyword:`raise` re-raises the last exception
that was active in the current scope. If no exception is active in the current
scope, a :exc:`TypeError` exception is raised indicating that this is an error
(if running under IDLE, a :exc:`Queue.Empty` exception is raised instead).
Otherwise, :keyword:`raise` evaluates the expressions to get three objects,
using ``None`` as the value of omitted expressions. The first two objects are
used to determine the *type* and *value* of the exception.
If the first object is an instance, the type of the exception is the class of
the instance, the instance itself is the value, and the second object must be
``None``.
If the first object is a class, it becomes the type of the exception. The second
object is used to determine the exception value: If it is an instance of the
class, the instance becomes the exception value. If the second object is a
tuple, it is used as the argument list for the class constructor; if it is
``None``, an empty argument list is used, and any other object is treated as a
single argument to the constructor. The instance so created by calling the
constructor is used as the exception value.
.. index:: object: traceback
If a third object is present and not ``None``, it must be a traceback object
(see section :ref:`types`), and it is substituted instead of the current
location as the place where the exception occurred. If the third object is
present and not a traceback object or ``None``, a :exc:`TypeError` exception is
raised. The three-expression form of :keyword:`raise` is useful to re-raise an
exception transparently in an except clause, but :keyword:`raise` with no
expressions should be preferred if the exception to be re-raised was the most
recently active exception in the current scope.
Additional information on exceptions can be found in section :ref:`exceptions`,
and information about handling exceptions is in section :ref:`try`.
.. _break:
The :keyword:`break` statement
==============================
.. index:: statement: break
.. productionlist::
break_stmt: "break"
.. index::
statement: for
statement: while
pair: loop; statement
:keyword:`break` may only occur syntactically nested in a :keyword:`for` or
:keyword:`while` loop, but not nested in a function or class definition within
that loop.
.. index:: keyword: else
It terminates the nearest enclosing loop, skipping the optional :keyword:`else`
clause if the loop has one.
.. index:: pair: loop control; target
If a :keyword:`for` loop is terminated by :keyword:`break`, the loop control
target keeps its current value.
.. index:: keyword: finally
When :keyword:`break` passes control out of a :keyword:`try` statement with a
:keyword:`finally` clause, that :keyword:`finally` clause is executed before
really leaving the loop.
.. _continue:
The :keyword:`continue` statement
=================================
.. index:: statement: continue
.. productionlist::
continue_stmt: "continue"
.. index::
statement: for
statement: while
pair: loop; statement
keyword: finally
:keyword:`continue` may only occur syntactically nested in a :keyword:`for` or
:keyword:`while` loop, but not nested in a function or class definition or
:keyword:`finally` statement within that loop. [#]_ It continues with the next
cycle of the nearest enclosing loop.
.. _import:
The :keyword:`import` statement
===============================
.. index::
statement: import
single: module; importing
pair: name; binding
keyword: from
.. productionlist::
import_stmt: "import" `module` ["as" `name`] ( "," `module` ["as" `name`] )*
: | "from" `relative_module` "import" `identifier` ["as" `name`]
: ( "," `identifier` ["as" `name`] )*
: | "from" `relative_module` "import" "(" `identifier` ["as" `name`]
: ( "," `identifier` ["as" `name`] )* [","] ")"
: | "from" `module` "import" "*"
module: (`identifier` ".")* `identifier`
relative_module: "."* `module` | "."+
name: `identifier`
Import statements are executed in two steps: (1) find a module, and initialize
it if necessary; (2) define a name or names in the local namespace (of the scope
where the :keyword:`import` statement occurs). The first form (without
:keyword:`from`) repeats these steps for each identifier in the list. The form
with :keyword:`from` performs step (1) once, and then performs step (2)
repeatedly.
In this context, to "initialize" a built-in or extension module means to call an
initialization function that the module must provide for the purpose (in the
reference implementation, the function's name is obtained by prepending string
"init" to the module's name); to "initialize" a Python-coded module means to
execute the module's body.
.. index::
single: modules (in module sys)
single: sys.modules
pair: module; name
pair: built-in; module
pair: user-defined; module
module: sys
pair: filename; extension
triple: module; search; path
The system maintains a table of modules that have been or are being initialized,
indexed by module name. This table is accessible as ``sys.modules``. When a
module name is found in this table, step (1) is finished. If not, a search for
a module definition is started. When a module is found, it is loaded. Details
of the module searching and loading process are implementation and platform
specific. It generally involves searching for a "built-in" module with the
given name and then searching a list of locations given as ``sys.path``.
.. index::
pair: module; initialization
exception: ImportError
single: code block
exception: SyntaxError
If a built-in module is found, its built-in initialization code is executed and
step (1) is finished. If no matching file is found, :exc:`ImportError` is
raised. If a file is found, it is parsed, yielding an executable code block. If
a syntax error occurs, :exc:`SyntaxError` is raised. Otherwise, an empty module
of the given name is created and inserted in the module table, and then the code
block is executed in the context of this module. Exceptions during this
execution terminate step (1).
When step (1) finishes without raising an exception, step (2) can begin.
The first form of :keyword:`import` statement binds the module name in the local
namespace to the module object, and then goes on to import the next identifier,
if any. If the module name is followed by :keyword:`as`, the name following
:keyword:`as` is used as the local name for the module.
.. index::
pair: name; binding
exception: ImportError
The :keyword:`from` form does not bind the module name: it goes through the list
of identifiers, looks each one of them up in the module found in step (1), and
binds the name in the local namespace to the object thus found. As with the
first form of :keyword:`import`, an alternate local name can be supplied by
specifying ":keyword:`as` localname". If a name is not found,
:exc:`ImportError` is raised. If the list of identifiers is replaced by a star
(``'*'``), all public names defined in the module are bound in the local
namespace of the :keyword:`import` statement..
.. index:: single: __all__ (optional module attribute)
The *public names* defined by a module are determined by checking the module's
namespace for a variable named ``__all__``; if defined, it must be a sequence of
strings which are names defined or imported by that module. The names given in
``__all__`` are all considered public and are required to exist. If ``__all__``
is not defined, the set of public names includes all names found in the module's
namespace which do not begin with an underscore character (``'_'``).
``__all__`` should contain the entire public API. It is intended to avoid
accidentally exporting items that are not part of the API (such as library
modules which were imported and used within the module).
The :keyword:`from` form with ``*`` may only occur in a module scope. If the
wild card form of import --- ``import *`` --- is used in a function and the
function contains or is a nested block with free variables, the compiler will
raise a :exc:`SyntaxError`.
.. index::
keyword: from
statement: from
.. index::
triple: hierarchical; module; names
single: packages
single: __init__.py
**Hierarchical module names:** when the module names contains one or more dots,
the module search path is carried out differently. The sequence of identifiers
up to the last dot is used to find a "package"; the final identifier is then
searched inside the package. A package is generally a subdirectory of a
directory on ``sys.path`` that has a file :file:`__init__.py`. [XXX Can't be
bothered to spell this out right now; see the URL
http://www.python.org/doc/essays/packages.html for more details, also about how
the module search works from inside a package.]
.. %
.. index:: builtin: __import__
The built-in function :func:`__import__` is provided to support applications
that determine which modules need to be loaded dynamically; refer to
:ref:`built-in-funcs` for additional information.
.. _future:
Future statements
-----------------
.. index:: pair: future; statement
A :dfn:`future statement` is a directive to the compiler that a particular
module should be compiled using syntax or semantics that will be available in a
specified future release of Python. The future statement is intended to ease
migration to future versions of Python that introduce incompatible changes to
the language. It allows use of the new features on a per-module basis before
the release in which the feature becomes standard.
.. productionlist:: *
future_statement: "from" "__future__" "import" feature ["as" name]
: ("," feature ["as" name])*
: | "from" "__future__" "import" "(" feature ["as" name]
: ("," feature ["as" name])* [","] ")"
feature: identifier
name: identifier
A future statement must appear near the top of the module. The only lines that
can appear before a future statement are:
* the module docstring (if any),
* comments,
* blank lines, and
* other future statements.
The features recognized by Python 2.5 are ``absolute_import``, ``division``,
``generators``, ``nested_scopes`` and ``with_statement``. ``generators`` and
``nested_scopes`` are redundant in Python version 2.3 and above because they
are always enabled.
A future statement is recognized and treated specially at compile time: Changes
to the semantics of core constructs are often implemented by generating
different code. It may even be the case that a new feature introduces new
incompatible syntax (such as a new reserved word), in which case the compiler
may need to parse the module differently. Such decisions cannot be pushed off
until runtime.
For any given release, the compiler knows which feature names have been defined,
and raises a compile-time error if a future statement contains a feature not
known to it.
The direct runtime semantics are the same as for any import statement: there is
a standard module :mod:`__future__`, described later, and it will be imported in
the usual way at the time the future statement is executed.
The interesting runtime semantics depend on the specific feature enabled by the
future statement.
Note that there is nothing special about the statement::
import __future__ [as name]
That is not a future statement; it's an ordinary import statement with no
special semantics or syntax restrictions.
Code compiled by calls to the builtin functions :func:`exec` and :func:`compile`
that occur in a module :mod:`M` containing a future
statement will, by default, use the new syntax or semantics associated with the
future statement. This can, starting with Python 2.2 be controlled by optional
arguments to :func:`compile` --- see the documentation of that function
for details.
A future statement typed at an interactive interpreter prompt will take effect
for the rest of the interpreter session. If an interpreter is started with the
:option:`-i` option, is passed a script name to execute, and the script includes
a future statement, it will be in effect in the interactive session started
after the script is executed.
.. _global:
The :keyword:`global` statement
===============================
.. index:: statement: global
.. productionlist::
global_stmt: "global" `identifier` ("," `identifier`)*
.. index:: triple: global; name; binding
The :keyword:`global` statement is a declaration which holds for the entire
current code block. It means that the listed identifiers are to be interpreted
as globals. It would be impossible to assign to a global variable without
:keyword:`global`, although free variables may refer to globals without being
declared global.
Names listed in a :keyword:`global` statement must not be used in the same code
block textually preceding that :keyword:`global` statement.
Names listed in a :keyword:`global` statement must not be defined as formal
parameters or in a :keyword:`for` loop control target, :keyword:`class`
definition, function definition, or :keyword:`import` statement.
(The current implementation does not enforce the latter two restrictions, but
programs should not abuse this freedom, as future implementations may enforce
them or silently change the meaning of the program.)
.. index::
builtin: exec
builtin: eval
builtin: compile
**Programmer's note:** the :keyword:`global` is a directive to the parser. It
applies only to code parsed at the same time as the :keyword:`global` statement.
In particular, a :keyword:`global` statement contained in a string or code
object supplied to the builtin :func:`exec` function does not affect the code
block *containing* the function call, and code contained in such a string is
unaffected by :keyword:`global` statements in the code containing the function
call. The same applies to the :func:`eval` and :func:`compile` functions.
.. rubric:: Footnotes
.. [#] It may occur within an :keyword:`except` or :keyword:`else` clause. The
restriction on occurring in the :keyword:`try` clause is implementor's laziness
and will eventually be lifted.