Is it a good idea to dynamically create variables?

Question

I recently found out how to dynamically create variables in python through this method:

vars()[\'my_variable\'] = \'Some Value\'

Thus creat

Answer 1

Pros:

• adds another level of indirection, makes the environment more dynamic
  • in particular, allows to avoid more code duplication

Cons:

• not applicable for function namespaces (due to optimization)
• adds another level of indirection, makes the environment more dynamic
  • "lexical references" are much harder to track and maintain
    • if created names are arbitrary, conflicts are waiting to happen
    • it's hard to find the ins and outs in the code base and predict its behaviour
    • that's why these tricks may upset code checking tools like pylint
• if variables are processed in a similar way, they probably belong together separately from others (in a dedicated dict) rather than reusing a namespace dict, making it a mess in the process

In brief, at the abstraction level Python's language and runtime features are designed for, it's only good in small, well-defined amounts.