Keywords and Identifiers in Python 3

January 21, 2021 2 minutes read

Python Keywords

Python has a bunch of reserved words. These are known as Python keywords. These keywords can’t be used to name objects in Python like variables, functions and classes.

Keywords in Python are case-sensitive.

The following is a list of reserved keywords in Python 3.9.

False      await      else       import     pass
None       break      except     in         raise
True       class      finally    is         return
and        continue   for        lambda     try
as         def        from       nonlocal   while
assert     del        global     not        with
async      elif       if         or         yield

Simple use of if-else in Python

Code

num = 5

if num%2 == 0:
    print("It is Even")
else:
    print("It is odd")

Output

It is odd

How to check if a string is a keyword?

Python provides a keyword module that allows you to check for reserved keywords.

Code/Output

import keyword

print(keyword.iskeyword("for"))
>>> True

print(keyword.iskeyword("str"))
>>> False

You could also get a list of all reserved keywords in Python.

Code/Output

import keyword

print(keyword.kwlist)
>>> ['False', 'None', 'True', '__peg_parser__', 'and', 'as', 'assert', 'async', 'await', 'break', 'class', 'continue', 'def', 'del', 'elif', 'else', 'except', 'finally', 'for', 'from', 'global', 'if', 'import', 'in', 'is', 'lambda', 'nonlocal', 'not', 'or', 'pass', 'raise', 'return', 'try', 'while', 'with', 'yield']

Python Identifiers

Identifiers are opposite of reserved keywords. They are just names that users can choose to name their variables, functions and classes.

Rules to remember while writing identifiers

Can be a combination of lowercase and uppercase letters(A to Z), numbers(0 to 9) and underscore(_).

Valid Examples - x, my_list, str123
Cannot start with a number.

Invalid example - 1name

Valid Example - name1
Keywords cannot be used as identifiers
```
for = 1
>>> SyntaxError: invalid syntax
```
Special symbols like !, @, #, $, % etc. cannot be used
```
x@ = 1
>>> SyntaxError: invalid syntax
```

Final Suggestions

Python is case sensitive. This means X and x are not the same.
Use variable, function and class names that is descriptive of it’s functionality.
Use snake case to write long variables. Example - my_int_only_list.