Global vs Local variables in Python

Variables that are defined inside a function body have a local scope, and those defined outside have a global scope.

This means that local variables can be accessed only inside the function in which they are declared, whereas global variables can be accessed throughout the program body by all functions. When you call a function, the variables declared inside it are brought into scope.

Example

 Live Demo

#!/usr/bin/python
total = 0; # This is global variable.
# Function definition is here
def sum( arg1, arg2 ):
   # Add both the parameters and return them."
   total = arg1 + arg2; # Here total is local variable.
   print "Inside the function local total : ", total
   return total;
# Now you can call sum function
sum( 10, 20 );
print "Outside the function global total : ", total

Output

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −

Inside the function local total : 30
Outside the function global total : 0