What is a top-level statement in Python?

Question

In the Python Guide\'s chapter on project structure, the term \"top-level statement\" is brought up a few times. I\'m not sure exactly what this refers to. My guess is it\'s any

Answer 1

It's not just variable declarations (and there aren't any variable declarations anyway). It's pretty much anything that starts at indentation level 0.

import sys         # top-level

3 + 4              # top-level

x = 0              # top-level

def f():           # top-level
    import os      # not top-level!
    return 3       # not top-level

if x:              # top-level
    print 3        # not top-level
else:
    print 4        # not top-level, but executes as part of an if statement
                   # that is top-level

class TopLevel(object): # top-level
    x = 3          # not top-level, but executes as part of the class statement
    def foo(self): # not top-level, but executes as part of the class statement
        print 5    # not top-level