Namespace

Names of Python objects, such as names of variables, classes, functions, and modules, are collected in namespaces. Modules and classes have their own named namespaces with the same name as these objects. These namespaces are created when a module is imported or a class is instantiated. The lifetime of a namespace of a module is as long as the current Python session. The lifetime of a namespace of a class instance is until the instance is deleted.

Functions create a local namespace when they are executed (invoked). It is deleted when the function stops the execution by a regular return or an exception. Local namespaces are unnamed.

The concept of namespaces puts a variable name in its context. For example, there are several functions with the name sin and they are distinguished by the namespace they belong to, as shown in the following code:

import math
import scipy
math.sin
scipy.sin

They are indeed different, as scipy.sin is a universal function accepting lists or arrays as...