On 2013-06-10 17:20, Mark Janssen wrote: > >> list = [] > >> Reading further, one sees that the function works with two > >> lists, a list of file names, unfortunately called 'list', > > > > That is very good advice in general: never choose a variable name > > that is a keyword. > > Btw, shouldn't it be illegal anyway? Most compilers don't let you > do use a keyword as a variable name....
There's a subtle difference between a keyword and a built-in. Good Python style generally avoids masking built-ins but allows it: >>> "file" in dir(__builtins__) True >>> file = "hello" # bad style, but permitted >>> print file hello Whereas the compiler prevents you from tromping on actual keywords: >>> for = 4 File "<stdin>", line 1 for = 4 ^ SyntaxError: invalid syntax -tkc -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list