Python Essential Reference, Second Edition

Built-in Functions and Exceptions

This section describes Python’s built-in functions and exceptions. Much of this material is covered less formally in the chapters of this book. Additional details and some of the more subtle aspects of many built-in functions can be found here.

Built-in Functions

The functions in this section are always available to the interpreter and are contained within the _ _builtin_ _ module. In addition, the _ _builtins_ _ attribute of each module usually refers to this module (except when running in a restricted execution environment as described in the “Restricted Execution” section).

_ (Underscore)

By default, the _ variable is set to the result of the last expression evaluated when the interpreter is running in interactive ...