How To Print A Variable's Name In Python

Last Updated : 31 Jan, 2024

In Python, printing a variable's name can be a useful debugging technique or a way to enhance code readability. While the language itself does not provide a built-in method to directly obtain a variable's name, there are several creative ways to achieve this. In this article, we'll explore five simple methods to print a variable's name in Python.

Print A Variable Name In Python

Below are the example of How To Print A Variable's Name In Python.

Using locals() Function
Using globals() Function
Using a Custom Function
Using inspect module

Print A Variable's Name Using locals() Function

In this example, the below code defines a function `print_variable` that takes a variable as an argument, finds its name within the local scope using list comprehension with `locals()`, and prints the variable name.

Python3

def print_variable(variable):     variable_name = [name for name, value in locals().items() if value is variable][0]     print(f&quot;Variable name using locals(): {variable_name}&quot;)  # Example usage: my_variable = 42 print_variable(my_variable)

Output

Variable name using locals(): variable

Print A Variable's Name Using globals() Function

In this example, below code defines a function print_variable that takes a variable as an argument, finds its name within the global scope using list comprehension with globals(), and prints the variable name.

Python3

def print_variable(variable):     variable_name = [name for name, value in globals().items() if value is variable][0]     print(f&quot;Variable name using globals(): {variable_name}&quot;)  # Example usage: global_variable = &quot;Hello, World!&quot; print_variable(global_variable)

Output

Variable name using globals(): global_variable

Print A Variable's Name Using a Custom Function

In this example, below code defines a function get_variable_name that takes an object and a namespace as arguments, finds the object's name within the given namespace using list comprehension, and returns the variable name.

Python3

def get_variable_name(obj, namespace):     return [name for name, value in namespace.items() if value is obj][0]  # Example usage: custom_variable = [1, 2, 3] custom_variable_name = get_variable_name(custom_variable, locals()) print(f&quot;Variable name using custom function: {custom_variable_name}&quot;)

Output

Variable name using custom function: custom_variable

Print A Variable's Name Using inspect Module

In this example, below code uses the inspect module to define a function `get_var_name` that takes a variable as an argument and prints its name by inspecting the local variables in the current frame. It then calls this function with a variable named `variable` having a value of 42. Note: Using `==` for value comparison might be more appropriate in this context instead of `is`.

Python3

import inspect  def get_var_name(var):     current_frame = inspect.currentframe()     try:         frame_locals = current_frame.f_back.f_locals         var_name = [name for name, value in frame_locals.items() if value is var][0]         print(f&quot;Variable name: {var_name}&quot;)     finally:         del current_frame  variable = 42 get_var_name(variable)