How to force local scope in Python?

Question

In C++, you can do this to force local scope:

{     int i = 1;     // Do stuff } // local variable i is destroyed {     int i = 7;     // Do more stuff } 

This has the benefit that by the end of a forced local scope, any variables declared in the bracket are gone. This can help prevent using a previously defined variable x in a place later on where you didn't intend to use x.

Can you do this in Python? If so, how?

==UPDATE==

I'm aware of functions - which is the obvious thing. I was wondering if there was a quick way to do the above when the code is simple and not worth creating separate a function for - just some quick notation to emphasize that the variables in this block are not to be used anywhere else in the function.

From what people have said so far the short answer is no.

(I understand that there are clever ways like "del", or that this desire to have blocks may suggest refactoring into a separate function anyway. However I would like to emphasize this is just for short snippets where you want to emphasize the variables in this small block are not to be used elsewhere.)

Answer 1

In Python, if you declare a variable inside a function, it is local and cannot be accessed outside the function

>>> def x():     i = 5   >>> x() >>> i  Traceback (most recent call last):   File "<pyshell#5>", line 1, in <module>     i NameError: name 'i' is not defined >>>  

Alternatively, you can delete the variable from the namespace at the end so that you cannot reuse it.

>>> i = 5 >>> del i >>> i  Traceback (most recent call last):   File "<pyshell#8>", line 1, in <module>     i NameError: name 'i' is not defined >>>