problem with variable scoping

[Hrvoje Niksic]

Moshe Zadka <moshez at math.huji.ac.il> writes:

> Ummmm.....Tim, I beg to differ: it is more like the C++
[...]
> The  Python code shadows last_line_empty only *after* the "decleration"

Not quite.  Try this:

>>> a = 3
>>> def x():
...   print a
...   a = 10
...   print a
... 

What do you expect calling x() will do?  I'd "normally" expect it to
print 3, then 10.  What really happens is this:

>>> x()
Traceback (innermost last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in ?
  File "<stdin>", line 2, in x
NameError: a