Is it possible to escape a reserved word in Python?

Question

It may not be a good idea to name a variable after a reserved word, but I am curious:

Is there any escape syntax in Python to allow you to use a reserved word as the

Answer 1

If you don't mind prefixing, you can "prefix" with an underscore. Sure it'll actually be part of the variable's name, but it'll look like a prefixed reserved word. Other than that, it is not possible.

Answer 2

No, this is not possible.

Section 2.3.1 of The Python Language Reference says that keywords 'cannot be used as ordinary identifiers' and does not specify an escape syntax.

This is probably a Good Thing, for the sake of code readability!

Answer 3

I received an error when using the following:

for r in db.call ('ReadCashflows',
                  number = number,
                  from = date_from,
                  to = date_to):

I tried using capitals instead and now it works:

for r in db.call ('ReadCashflows',
                  number = number,
                  FROM = date_from,
                  TO = date_to):

This was possible for me because my database is ORACLE (which is case-insensitive). Remark on the code above: in my software application the actual parameters in the database are pFROM and pTO; the "p" gets added in the post-processing before the call to the database is made.

Answer 4

It is not possible, however it is some kind of a tradition in Python to append a _ to get a new identifier:

def drive(from_, to):
    pass

Answer 5

db.call( ..., **{ 'from' : date_from }, **{ 'to' : date_to })

Python doesn't do those check when unpacking.