The nonlocal Keyword in Python

The nonlocal keyword is utilized to set the scope of a particular variable. It is mostly used in cases where nesting occurs in a program.

In this tutorial, we will discuss the nonlocal keyword in Python.

The nonlocal keyword, when used, has a scope that is quite different from the general global or local variable. The nonlocal keyword is utilized to work on variables under nested functions, in which case the scope of the given variable needs to be accessed in the outer function.

The nonlocal function indicates that the given variable worked upon does not belong locally to the given nested function. However, this does not mean that the variable specified with the nonlocal keyword is a global variable. Both nonlocal and global are different and work differently.

The following code uses the nonlocal variable in Python.

a = 0


def outr():
    a = 1

    def innr():
        nonlocal a
        a = 2
        print("inner variable value:", a)

    innr()
    print("outer variable value:", a)


outr()
print("global variable value:", a)

The above code provides the following output:

inner variable value: 2
outer variable value: 2
global variable value: 0

The above code explains how the nonlocal keyword is utilized in Python. It provides a fascinating insight into how the nonlocal keyword is different from the global keyword.

The nonlocal keyword rebinds the given variables outside the local scope but does not cover or rebind entirely to the global scope.