Re-defined variable from outer scope PYL-W0621
Anti-pattern
Major
6 months ago
—
6 months old
Redefining name 'wordlist' from outer scope (line 79)
61 return wordlist
62
63
64def choose_word(wordlist): 65 """
66 wordlist (list): list of words (strings)
67Redefining name 'wordlist' from outer scope (line 79)
56 # line: string
57 line = inFile.readline()
58 # wordlist: list of strings
59 wordlist = line.split() 60 print(" ", len(wordlist), "words loaded.")
61 return wordlist
62
Description
The local variable name hides the variable defined in the outer scope, making it inaccessible and might confuse.
Bad practice
filename = 'myfile.txt'
def read_file(filename): # This shadows the global `filename`
with open(filename) as file:
return file.readlines()
Preferred:
FILENAME = 'myfile.txt' # renamed global to UPPER_CASE as convention
def read_file(filename):
with open(filename) as file:
return file.readlines()
Bad practice
Another usual suspect of this is when you use the same parameter name inside a function as the global variable you are using. For example:
def run_app(app):
# This `app` shadows the global app...
app.run()
if __name__ == '__main__':
app = MyApp() # This is a global variable!
run_app(app)
Preferred:
To avoid this re-defining of a global, consider not defining app as a global, but inside a main() function instead:
def run_app(app):
# There is no longer a global `app` variable.
app.run()
def main():
app = MyApp()
run_app(app)
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()