__builtins__

[Ben Finney]

LHB <loquehumaine at gmail.com> writes:

> Marc 'BlackJack' Rintsch a écrit :
> > `__builtins__` is an implementation detail, and `__builtin__` is a name
> > of a module you can import.  You should not use `__builtins__` but import
> > `__builtin__` and inspect that instead of `__builtins__`.
> Ok. Should I only see `__builtins__` as an access to builtin
> functions/exception/... ?

No, if you want that access, explicitly 'import __builtin__' and
access them that way. Ignore '__builtins__' altogether as an
implementation detail. (This is difficult to adhere to because the
names are confusingly similar; this is an acknowledged wart in current
Python.)

IIRC this behaviour will change in Python 3.0, where 'import
__builtin__' will be the *only* way to get at builtins from normal
code. At least, I'm now writing my code as though that's the case :-)

-- 
 \       “The man who is denied the opportunity of taking decisions of |
  `\      importance begins to regard as important the decisions he is |
_o__)                        allowed to take.” —C. Northcote Parkinson |
Ben Finney