... datamap = eval(raw_input('Provide some data here: ')) means that you actually evaluate the code before you deem it to be unsafe or not. It evaluates the code as soon as the function is called. See also the dangers of eval. ast.literal_eval raises an exception if the input isn't a valid Python dat...

...). The most common reason to want such a type is when memoizing function calls for functions with unknown arguments. The most common solution to store a hashable equivalent of a dict (where the values are hashable) is something like tuple(sorted(kwargs.iteritems())). This depends on the sorting n...

... Generally, Python programs should be written with the assumption that all users are consenting adults, and thus are responsible for using things correctly themselves. However, in the rare instance where it just does not make sens...

...'s files, respectively. As a programmer, you can largely just ignore it... All it does is make your program start a little faster. When your scripts change, they will be recompiled, and if you delete the files or the whole folder and run your program again, they will reappear (unless you specificall...

...emented classes. Long version There is a contract between a class and its callers. The class promises to do certain things and have certain properties. There are different levels to the contract. At a very low level, the contract might include the name of a method or its number of parameters. In a s...

...her object scream = shout # Notice we don't use parentheses: we are not calling the function, # we are putting the function "shout" into the variable "scream". # It means you can then call "shout" from "scream": print(scream()) # outputs : 'Yes!' # More than that, it means you can remove the old...

... Explanation: People coming from a C++/Java background are especially prone to overusing/misusing this "feature". But __private names don't work the same way as in Java or C++. They just trigger a name mangling whose purpose is to prevent accidental namespace collisions in subclasses...

I have a small database in Elasticsearch and for testing purposes would like to pull all records back. I am attempting to use a URL of the form... ...

I wonder, what's the easiest way to delete a directory with all its files in it? 33 Answers ...

...butes, the short answer is: no. The problem is that the attributes are actually defined as the arguments accepted by the getattr built-in function. As the user can reimplement __getattr__, suddenly allowing any kind of attribute, there is no possible generic way to generate that list. The dir functi...