Question

For some reason I can’t get isinstance() to work on Python 2.7.2

def print_lol(the_list, indent=False, level=0):
    for item in the_list:
        if isinstance(item, list):
            print_lol(item, indent, level+1)
        else:
            print(item)

And when I compile and run it:

>>> list = ["q", "w", ["D", ["E", "I"]]]
>>> print_lol(list)

I get the error message:

if isinstance(item, list):
TypeError: isinstance() arg 2 must be a class, type, or tuple of classes and types

What am I mising?

Answer 1

You’ve named your variable list:

>>> list = ["q", "w", ["D", ["E", "I"]]]

Which is hiding the built-in list.

Once you’ve renamed your variable, restart Python (or your IDE). Since your list is a global variable, it will stick around otherwise.