CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonkeyword
user3388884
user3388884

Reputation: 5068

Is 'file' a keyword in python?

Is file a keyword in python?

I've seen some code using the keyword file just fine, while others have suggested not to use it and my editor is color coding it as a keyword.

Upvotes: 117

Views: 40449

Answers (3)

ha7ilm
ha7ilm

Reputation: 1523

As others suggested, type in Python 3 it is not defined by default:

Python 3.8.10 (default, Nov 14 2022, 12:59:47) 
[GCC 9.4.0] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> file
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
NameError: name 'file' is not defined

The color coding in VS Code and possibly other editors probably refers to Python 2, where it is defined by default, it is the type returned by open():

Python 2.7.18 (default, Jul  1 2022, 12:27:04) 
[GCC 9.4.0] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> file
<type 'file'>

Upvotes: 2

Martijn Pieters
Martijn Pieters

Reputation: 1122372

No, file is not a keyword:

>>> import keyword
>>> keyword.iskeyword('file')
False

The name is not present in Python 3. In Python 2, file is a built-in:

>>> import __builtin__, sys
>>> hasattr(__builtin__, 'file')
True
>>> sys.version_info[:2]
(2, 7)

It can be seen as an alias for open(), but it was removed in Python 3, where the new io framework replaced it. Technically, it is the type of object returned by the Python 2 open() function.

Upvotes: 155

northtree
northtree

Reputation: 9265

file is neither a keyword nor a builtin in Python 3.

>>> import keyword
>>> 'file' in keyword.kwlist
False
>>> import builtins
>>> 'file' in dir(builtins)
False

file is also used as variable example from Python 3 doc.

with open('spam.txt', 'w') as file:
    file.write('Spam and eggs!')

Upvotes: 25

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