## page was renamed from LocalVariablesInFunctions
= Local Variables in Functions =

"How do I use local variables in a function within a class? (I do not want to use self.x, as this makes the instance have variables. I want variables local to my function, that get destroyed at the end of it.) I can only think of using del at the end of the function, is there a better way?"

Local variables only ever define names within their scope, and these names do not appear in the surrounding class or module. Consider this function:

{{{
def f(x, y, z):
    a = x + y + z
    print "Done!"
    return a
}}}

The names `x`, `y` and `z` come to life as the function `f` is called, pointing to the objects supplied as arguments to `f`. When `f` is finished executing, the names `x`, `y` and `z` are forgotten, but the objects they pointed to might still be around, of course. Here, we use a variable `a` in the function; this also gets forgotten at the end of the function, but the object `a` pointed to is returned to the caller.

In short, you always get local variables in Python unless you use the `global` keyword. You can always use `del` to make Python forget names, but this is done automatically at the end of function execution for all names in the local scope of that function.
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