Global variables are the one that is defined and declared outside a function and we need to use them inside a function.
Python3
# This function uses global variable sdef f(): print(s)# Global scopes = "I love Geeksforgeeks"f() |
Output:
I love Geeksforgeeks
The variable s is defined as the string “I love Geeksforgeeks” before we call the function f(). The only statement in f() is the “print s” statement. As there are no locals, the value from the globals will be used.
Python3
# This function has a variable with# name same as s.def f(): s = "Me too." print(s)# Global scopes = "I love Geeksforgeeks"f()print(s) |
Output:
Me too. I love Geeksforgeeks.
If a variable with the same name is defined inside the scope of function as well then it will print the value given inside the function only and not the global value.
The question is, what will happen if we change the value of s inside of the function f()? Will it affect the globals as well? We test it in the following piece of code:
Python3
def f(): print(s) # This program will NOT show error # if we comment below line. s = "Me too." print(s)# Global scopes = "I love Geeksforgeeks"f()print(s) |
Output:
Line 2: undefined: Error: local variable 's' referenced before assignment
To make the above program work, we need to use the “global” keyword. We only need to use the global keyword in a function if we want to do assignments / change them. global is not needed for printing and accessing. Why? Python “assumes” that we want a local variable due to the assignment to s inside of f(), so the first print statement throws this error message. Any variable which is changed or created inside of a function is local if it hasn’t been declared as a global variable. To tell Python, that we want to use the global variable, we have to use the keyword “global”, as can be seen in the following example:
Python3
# This function modifies the global variable 's'def f(): global s print(s) s = "Look for Geeksforgeeks Python Section" print(s)# Global Scopes = "Python is great!"f()print(s) |
Now there is no ambiguity.
Output:
Python is great! Look for Geeksforgeeks Python Section. Look for Geeksforgeeks Python Section.
A Good Example
Python3
a = 1# Uses global because there is no local 'a'def f(): print('Inside f() : ', a)# Variable 'a' is redefined as a localdef g(): a = 2 print('Inside g() : ', a)# Uses global keyword to modify global 'a'def h(): global a a = 3 print('Inside h() : ', a)# Global scopeprint('global : ',a)f()print('global : ',a)g()print('global : ',a)h()print('global : ',a) |
Output:
global : 1 Inside f() : 1 global : 1 Inside g() : 2 global : 1 Inside h() : 3 global : 3
This article is contributed by Shwetanshu Rohatgi. If you like GeeksforGeeks and would like to contribute, you can also write an article using contribute.geeksforgeeks.org or mail your article to contribute@geeksforgeeks.org. See your article appearing on the GeeksforGeeks main page and help other Geeks.
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