Services
Technology Web App Development Mobile App Development Windows App Development Database Development UI/UX Development Cloud Development SEO Digital Marketing Guest Posting Content Writing Artificial Intelligence Data Science ERP Development CRM Development CMS Development LMS Development Business Listing Blockchain Technology Startup Promotion AI Tools Integration
Products
Data Converter Cleaner TUC - Unit Converter Import Export Survey Manager Tweet Controller
Developer
Article Blog Forum Interview Beginner News Startup Quiz
Users
Career
Apply Job Internship
Pricing
Login Sign Up Get a Quote

interview

Home Interviews Explain the Python Scope with example. – MindStick
Ask Question

1 Answers

ICSM Computer
ICSM Computer 05 Oct 2025
Report Abuse

Scope defines where in your code a variable can be accessed or modified.
In Python, every variable is only available within a certain part of the program — that part is called its scope.

The 4 Types of Scope (LEGB Rule)

Python follows the LEGB rule, which stands for:

Level Name Description
L Local Inside a function or lambda — temporary and exists only while the function runs.
E Enclosing Inside nested functions — from an outer function that encloses the current one.
G Global Defined at the top level of a module or script — accessible throughout that file.
B Built-in Reserved Python names (like len, print, sum) — always available.
Keyword Affects Example Use
local Variables inside a function x = 5 inside a function
enclosing Variables in outer function Nested functions
global Variables declared at the top level global x
built-in Reserved names print(), len()

Example: Understanding Scope

# Global scope
x = 10

def outer():
    # Enclosing scope
    y = 20
    
    def inner():
        # Local scope
        z = 30
        print("Inside inner function:")
        print("x (Global):", x)
        print("y (Enclosing):", y)
        print("z (Local):", z)
    
    inner()
    print("\nInside outer function:")
    print("x (Global):", x)
    print("y (Enclosing):", y)
    # z is not accessible here

outer()

print("\nOutside all functions:")
print("x (Global):", x)
# print(y)  # This will cause an error — y is not defined here

Output:

Inside inner function:
x (Global): 10
y (Enclosing): 20
z (Local): 30

Inside outer function:
x (Global): 10
y (Enclosing): 20

Outside all functions:
x (Global): 10

Modifying Variables Across Scopes

If you want to modify a variable from an outer scope, use:

  1. global → to modify a global variable.
  2. nonlocal → to modify an enclosing variable in a nested function.

Example:

count = 0  # global variable

def outer():
    total = 5  # enclosing variable

    def inner():
        nonlocal total
        global count
        total += 1
        count += 1
        print("Inside inner:", total, count)
    
    inner()
    print("Inside outer:", total, count)

outer()
print("Outside:", count)

Output:

Inside inner: 6 1
Inside outer: 6 1
Outside: 1
advertising
Markdown for AI

A clean, structured version of this page for AI assistants and LLMs.

Open .md