Question

I have used occasionally (lambda x:<code>)(<some input>) in python, to preserve my namespace’s (within the global namespace or elsewhere) cleanliness. One issue with the lambda solution is that it is a very limiting construct in terms of what it may contain.

Note: This is a habit from javascript programming

Is this a recommended way of preserving namespace? If so, is there a better way to implement a self-executing function?

Answer 1

For a function A that will be called only in a specific function B, you can define A in B, by which I think the namespace will not be polluted. e.g.,

Instead of :

def a_fn():
    //do something
def b_fn():
    //do something
def c_fn():
    b_fn()
    a_fn()

You can:

def c_fn():
    def a_fn():
        //do something
    def b_fn():
        //do something
    b_fn()
    a_fn()

Though I’m not sure if its the pythonic way, I usually do like this.