globals() Built-in Function

Python - globals()

Python globals() built-in function is used to get the global symbol table as a dictionary.

In this tutorial, you will learn the syntax and usage of globals() built-in function with examples.

Syntax

The syntax of globals() function is

globals()

Examples

1. Get value of a global variable in a function

In the following program, we define a variable x in global scope, and a variable x in a function my_function. By default we can access the value in x using the variable x. After that, you will see how to access the value in global variable x.

Python Program

x = 10

def my_function():
    x = 20
    print("x [local  value] :", x)
    # Print value in global x
    print("x [global value] :", globals()['x'])

my_function()

Output

x [local  value] : 20
x [global value] : 10

2. Print all global variables

In the following program, we print the dictionary returned by the globals() built-in function.

Python Program

x = 10

def my_function():
    x = 20
    print(globals())

my_function()

Output

{'__name__': '__main__', '__doc__': None, '__package__': None, '__loader__': <_frozen_importlib_external.SourceFileLoader object at 0x102790ca0>, '__spec__': None, '__annotations__': {}, '__builtins__': <module 'builtins' (built-in)>, '__file__': '/Users/pythonexamples/Desktop/Desktop - PYTHONEXAMPLES_ORG’s Mac mini - 1/Projects/PythonTutorial/main.py', '__cached__': None, 'x': 10, 'my_function': <function my_function at 0x1026cfeb0>}

Summary

In this Built-in Functions tutorial, we learned the syntax of the globals() built-in function, and how to use this function to access the values of global variables.