How to assign a value to a variable given as parameter?

Question

def function(x):
    x = 4
variable = 0
function(variable)
print(variable)

This would output 0 but is there a way that it outputs 4? And also it should be without return.

Possible duplicate of [How do I create a variable number of variables?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1373164/how-do-i-create-a-variable-number-of-variables) — jonrsharpe, Sep 17 '17 at 17:16

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 17 '17 at 17:57

First of all, I'd suggest you take a look to this nice explanation about python names and values. Now, one possible way to achieve what you want would be using a mutable structure as a dictionary, so you can pass your variable inside, something similar to this would do it:

def function(dct):
    dct['variable'] = 4

dct = {
    'variable': 0
}

function(dct)
print(dct['variable'])

More info can be found in python docs

How to assign a value to a variable given as parameter?

1 Answers1