Can one function have multiple names?

Question

I\'m developing a bot on Python (2.7, 3.4). I defined a about 30+ dynamic functions which to be used based on bot commands. While development, since not all functions are done,

Answer 1

Yes, it's perfectly possible since defined functions are stored in variables like everything else.

def foo():
    pass

baz = bar = foo

There is still some metadata relating to the original function (help(bar) will still mention foo), but it doesn't affect functionality.

Another option is to use lambdas for one-liners:

foo = bar = baz = lambda: None

Answer 2

Functions do not intern in Python (i.e., automatically share multiple references to the same immutable object), but can share the same name:

>>> def a(): pass
... 
>>> a
<function a at 0x101c892a8>
>>> def b(): pass
... 
>>> b
<function b at 0x101c89320>
>>> c=a
>>> c
<function a at 0x101c892a8>  # note the physical address is the same as 'a'

So clearly you can do:

>>> c=d=e=f=g=a
>>> e
<function a at 0x101c892a8>

For the case of functions not yet defined, you can use a try/catch block by catching either a NameError:

def default():
    print "default called"

try:
    not_defined()
except NameError:
    default()

Or use a dict of funcs and catch the KeyError:

funcs={"default": default}

try:
    funcs['not_defined']()
except KeyError:
    funcs['default']()      

Or, you can do funcs.get(not_defined, default)() if you prefer that syntax with a dict of funcs.

Answer 3

Yes, it is possible, and it is even possible to store them in lists using loops. For instance:

l = []
for i in range(10):
    l.append(lambda: None)

And you can reference any of them through indices like l[index]()

For example:

c_events = 0
c_about = 1
l[c_events]()