Python Built-in Functions: Comprehensive Guide and Examples

Python Built-in Functions Overview

Python provides a set of built‑in functions that can be used directly, such as print, input, etc. Up to version 3.6.2 there are 68 built‑in functions.

Numeric‑related Functions

Data types: bool, int, float, complex Base conversion: bin(), oct(), hex() Math operations: abs(), divmod(), round(), pow(), sum(), min(),

max()

print(bin(10))   # 0b1010
print(hex(10))   # 0xa
print(oct(10))   # 0o12
print(abs(-2))   # 2
print(divmod(20,3))  # (6, 2)
print(round(4.51))   # 5
print(pow(10,2,3))   # 1
print(sum([1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]))  # 55
print(min(5,3,9,12,7,2))  # 2
print(max(7,3,15,9,4,13))  # 15

Data‑Structure‑related Functions

Sequences: list(), tuple() Collections: dict(), set(), frozenset() Utility: reversed(), slice(), len(), sorted(), enumerate(), zip(), filter(),

map()

print(list((1,2,3,4,5,6)))   # [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
print(tuple([1,2,3,4,5,6]))   # (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
lst = [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
print(sorted(lst, reverse=True))  # [9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1]
for index, item in enumerate(['one','two','three'], 1):
    print(index, item)

Scope‑related Functions

locals()

– returns a dictionary of the current local symbol table. globals() – returns a dictionary of the global symbol table.

def func():
    a = 10
    print(locals())
    print(globals())
    print("Example")
func()

Iterator and Generator Functions

range()

, iter(),

next()

for i in range(15, -1, -5):
    print(i)   # 15 10 5 0
lst = [1,2,3,4,5]
it = iter(lst)
print(it.__next__())   # 1
print(next(it))        # 2

String Execution Functions

eval()

, exec(),

compile()

s = input("Enter expression a+b:")
print(eval(s))   # evaluates the expression
code = "for i in range(3): print(i)"
exec(code)

Input/Output Functions

print()

– prints to console. input() – reads user input.

print("hello", "world", sep="*", end="@")   # hello*world@

Memory‑related Functions

hash()

– returns hash value of an object. id() – returns the memory address.

s = "alex"
print(hash(s))
print(id(s))

File Operations

open()

– opens a file and returns a file object.

f = open('file', mode='r', encoding='utf-8')
content = f.read()
f.close()

Module‑related Functions

__import__()

– imports a module dynamically.

name = input("Enter module name:")
module = __import__(name)

Help and Introspection

help()

– shows documentation of an object. callable() – checks if an object can be called. dir() – lists attributes of an object.

print(help(str))
print(callable(len))
print(dir(tuple))