Obtaining A List Of Variables In A Python Module Dnmtechs

Leo Migdal

-Nov 18, 2025, 2:20 AM

obtaining a list of variables in a python module dnmtechs

When working with Python modules, it is often helpful to obtain a list of all the variables defined within a module. This information can be useful for various purposes, such as debugging, documentation generation, or dynamically accessing and manipulating variables in your code. In this article, we will explore different methods to obtain a list of variables in a Python module. Python provides a built-in function called dir() that returns a list of names in the current local scope or a specified object. When used with a module as an argument, dir() returns a list of all the names defined in that module. These names include variables, functions, classes, and other objects.

The above code imports the math module and uses the dir() function to obtain a list of all the names defined in the module. The resulting list, stored in the variables variable, is then printed to the console. Running this code will output a list of variables and other names defined in the math module, such as pi, sqrt, sin, and many others. In addition to dir(), Python provides two other built-in functions called globals() and locals(). These functions return dictionaries containing the names defined in the global and local scopes, respectively. Communities for your favorite technologies.

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In this article, we are going to discuss how to view all defined variables in Python. Viewing all defined variables plays a major role while debugging the code. dir() is a built-in function to store all the variables inside a program along with the built-in variable functions and methods. It creates a list of all declared and built-in variables. There are two different ways to view all defined variables using dir( ). They are discussed below.

When no user-defined variable starts with '__' : var2 is <class 'str'> and is equal to Welcome to geeksforgeeks var3 is <class 'dict'> and is equal to {'1': 'a', '2': 'b'} I’m currently working with Python in a shell environment, and I find myself often needing to view all defined variables, similar to how one can in Matlab. This allows me to keep track of the variables I’ve created and their corresponding values. In this post, we’ll explore several effective methods for displaying user-defined variables in Python.

For a more enhanced shell experience, consider using IPython . IPython offers a magic command %who that lists all user-defined variables. For more detailed information, you can use %whos, which provides the type and value of each variable: Explore all the available magic commands in the IPython Documentation and discover more tips in this Dataquest article on Jupyter Notebooks . Have you ever needed to analyze a Python script to list all variables, functions, or methods? Whether you’re documenting code, refactoring, building static analysis tools, or simply trying to understand a unfamiliar script, extracting variable and method names is a common task.

However, doing this manually is error-prone, and naive approaches like regular expressions often fail to handle Python’s complex syntax (e.g., nested functions, comments, or string literals that mimic code). In this guide, we’ll explore reliable, automated methods to extract variable and method names from Python scripts. We’ll start with the limitations of manual approaches, then dive into the gold standard: using Python’s built-in ast module (Abstract Syntax Tree) for precise parsing. We’ll also cover edge cases, tools, and best practices to ensure accuracy. Before diving in, let’s clarify definitions: A common first thought is to use regular expressions (regex) to “scrape” variable and method names.

For example, you might use a pattern like r"\bdef\s+(\w+)\(" to find function names. However, regex struggles with Python’s complexity: A regex might extract x, welcome, x, y—but x (comment) and welcome (string) are not actual variables/methods. Python is a versatile and powerful programming language that is widely used in various domains, including web development, data analysis, and artificial intelligence. One of the key features of Python is its extensive standard library, which provides a wide range of modules and functions to simplify and accelerate the development process. However, finding the right functions in a module can sometimes be a challenge, especially when dealing with large libraries.

In this guide, we will explore a handy technique to list all the functions in a Python module, helping you navigate through the vast sea of available functions with ease. In Python, the dir() function is a built-in function that returns a sorted list of names in the specified module, namespace, or object. This function can be used to obtain a list of all the functions available in a module. By passing the module name as an argument to the dir() function, you can retrieve a list of all the functions defined within that module. The above code snippet demonstrates how to use the dir() function to list all the functions in the math module. When executed, it will display a sorted list of function names, including acos, sin, sqrt, and many more.

While the dir() function provides a comprehensive list of all names in a module, it includes not only functions but also other objects such as variables and classes. To filter out only the functions, you can combine the dir() function with the callable() function, which returns True if the specified object is callable (i.e., a function) and False otherwise. The code snippet above demonstrates how to filter out only the functions from the math module using a list comprehension. By iterating over the names returned by dir(math) and checking if each name is callable using callable(getattr(math, name)), we can create a list containing only the function names. Executing this code will display a list of function names, excluding any variables or classes present in the module. I want to get the list of all the variables defined in a Python module, without the imported variables.

With classes or functions, it can be done with inspect.getmembers , for example: However, simple objects don’t seem to have the __module__ field, so I can’t check if they have been imported or have been defined in the module directly. If I restrict the user from using from ... import statements, and only use __init__.py files which don’t import simple variables it can work, since it is not possible to import them, but it is not a satisfying solution… Is there a way to list variables defined in a Python module, excluding imported ones ? Powered by Discourse, best viewed with JavaScript enabled

When working with Python 3 programming, there may be situations where you need to obtain the names of variables as strings. This can be useful in various scenarios, such as debugging, logging, or dynamically generating code. In this article, we will explore the concept of obtaining variable names as strings in Python 3 and provide examples to illustrate its usage. In Python, a variable is simply a name that refers to a value stored in memory. The variable itself does not hold any information about its name. However, Python provides several ways to access and manipulate the names of variables.

One common method is to use the built-in function globals(), which returns a dictionary of the current global symbol table. This symbol table contains all the variables and their corresponding values in the global scope. By iterating over the dictionary, we can obtain the names of variables as strings. In the example above, the function get_variable_names() iterates over the items in the global symbol table. For each item, it checks if the value is of type str (string). If it is, the name of the variable is printed.

Another approach to obtaining variable names as strings is by using the inspect module, which provides several functions for introspecting live objects, such as modules, classes, methods, functions, etc. Communities for your favorite technologies. Explore all Collectives Ask questions, find answers and collaborate at work with Stack Overflow Internal. Ask questions, find answers and collaborate at work with Stack Overflow Internal. Explore Teams

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Obtaining A List Of Variables In A Python Module Dnmtechs

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