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The identifier list is bound to a variable in the first line; in the second, an object (a linked list of strings) is assigned to the variable. The linked list referenced by the variable is then mutated, adding a string to the list. Next, the variable is assigned the constant null. In the last line, the identifier is rebound for the scope of the ...
In Python, if a name is intended to be "private", it is prefixed by one or two underscores. Private variables are enforced in Python only by convention. Names can also be suffixed with an underscore to prevent conflict with Python keywords. Prefixing with double underscores changes behaviour in classes with regard to name mangling.
Python supports most object oriented programming (OOP) techniques. It allows polymorphism, not only within a class hierarchy but also by duck typing. Any object can be used for any type, and it will work so long as it has the proper methods and attributes. And everything in Python is an object, including classes, functions, numbers and modules.
The assignment statement (=) binds a name as a reference to a separate, dynamically allocated object. Variables may subsequently be rebound at any time to any object. In Python, a variable name is a generic reference holder without a fixed data type; however, it always refers to some object with a type.
In a dynamically typed language, where type can only be determined at runtime, many type errors can only be detected at runtime. For example, the Python code a + b is syntactically valid at the phrase level, but the correctness of the types of a and b can only be determined at runtime, as variables do not have types in Python, only values do.
If a variable is only referenced by a single identifier, that identifier can simply be called the name of the variable; otherwise, we can speak of it as one of the names of the variable. For instance, in the previous example the identifier "total_count" is the name of the variable in question, and "r" is another name of the same variable.
In Python, auxiliary variables in generator expressions and list comprehensions (in Python 3) have expression scope. In C, variable names in a function prototype have expression scope, known in this context as function protocol scope. As the variable names in the prototype are not referred to (they may be different in the actual definition ...
One of the oldest examples is in shell scripts, where single quotes indicate a raw string or "literal string", while double quotes have escape sequences and variable interpolation. For example, in Python, raw strings are preceded by an r or R – compare 'C:\\Windows' with r'C:\Windows' (though, a Python raw string cannot end in an odd number ...