Why do variables have bigger scopes in Python than in C

Question

Here is a Python code:

for i in xrange(10):
    for j in xrange(5):
        pass

# The for-loop ends, but i,j still live on
print i,j  # 9, 4

And the same for C code:

for(int i=0; i<=10; i++)
    for(int =0; j<=5; j++)
        ;

// The for-loop ends, so i,j can't be accessed, right?
printf("%d, %d", i, j);  // won't compile

Do variables in Python live on even after the for loop ends?

Answer 1

Only functions, modules, and the bodies of class definitions delineate scopes in Python. Other control structures don't.

Although scopes are determined statically, they are used dynamically. At any time during execution, there are at least three nested scopes whose namespaces are directly accessible:

• the innermost scope, which is searched first, contains the local names
• the scopes of any enclosing functions, which are searched starting with the nearest enclosing scope, contains non-local, but also non-global names
• the next-to-last scope contains the current module’s global names
• the outermost scope (searched last) is the namespace containing built-in names