[Tutor] :0: SyntaxWarning: name 'VAR' is assigned to before global declaration

[Bob Gailer]

At 05:54 PM 6/27/2004, Marilyn Davis wrote:
>I ran across this warning:
>
>#!/usr/bin/env python2.3
>VAR = 'xxx'
>if __name__ == '__main__':
>     global VAR
>     VAR = 'yyy'
>---
>OUTPUT:
>./var.py:0: SyntaxWarning: name 'VAR' is assigned to before global declaration
>----
>But, a little twiddle quiets the warning, and I have no idea why:
>
>#!/usr/bin/env python2.3
>VAR = 'xxx'
>def set_var():
>     global VAR
>     VAR = 'yyy'
>if __name__ == '__main__':
>     set_var()

Global is normally used within a function definition to allow it to assign 
to names defined outside the function (as in your 2nd example). In your 
first example global is outside any function definition, and therefore not 
meaningful, as well as giving a SyntaxWarning.
[snip]

Bob Gailer
bgailer at alum.rpi.edu
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