Get Variable Name As String In Python

In Python, getting the name of a variable as a string is not as straightforward as it may seem, as Python itself does not provide a built-in function for this purpose. However, several clever techniques and workarounds can be used to achieve this. In this article, we will explore some simple methods to obtain the variable name as a string in Python.

Get Variable Name As String In Python

Below, are the example of Get Variable Name As String In Python.

• Using locals() Function
• Using globals() Function
• Using a custom class
• Using inspect Module

Get Variable Name As String Using locals() Function

In this example, the below code defines a function, `get_var_name`, that returns the name of a local variable given its value using the `locals()` dictionary. The example demonstrates using the function to find and print the name of a variable (`my_variable`) along with its type.

Python3

def get_var_name(var):
    for name, value in locals().items():
        if value is var:
            return name

# Example usage:
my_variable = 42
variable_name = get_var_name(my_variable)
print(f"The variable name is: {variable_name}")
print(type(variable_name))

Output

The variable name is: var
<class 'str'>

Get Variable Name As String Using globals() Function

In this example, below code defines a function, `get_var_name`, which retrieves the name of a global variable given its value from the global namespace using `globals()`. The example demonstrates using this function to find and print the name of a variable (`my_variable`) along with its type.

Python3

def get_var_name(var):
    for name, value in globals().items():
        if value is var:
            return name

# Example usage:
my_variable = 42
variable_name = get_var_name(my_variable)
print(f"The variable name is: {variable_name}")
print(type(variable_name))

Output

The variable name is: my_variable
<class 'str'>

Get Variable Name As String Using a Custom Class

In this example, code defines a class `VariableWrapper` with attributes `value` and `name`. An instance of this class, `my_variable`, is created with a value of 42 and a name of “my_variable.” The example then prints the name attribute of `my_variable` along with its type.

Python3

class VariableWrapper:
    def __init__(self, value, name):
        self.value = value
        self.name = name

# Example usage:
my_variable = VariableWrapper(42, "my_variable")
print(f"The variable name is: {my_variable.name}")
print(type(my_variable.name))

Output

The variable name is: my_variable
<class 'str'>

Get Variable Name As String Using inspect Module

In this example, below code defines a function, `get_var_name`, which uses the inspect module to obtain the name of a variable given its value. The example demonstrates using this function to find and print the name of a variable (`my_variable`) along with its type.

Python3

import inspect

def get_var_name(var):
    current_frame = inspect.currentframe()
    caller_frame = inspect.getouterframes(current_frame)[1]
    local_vars = caller_frame.frame.f_locals

    for name, value in local_vars.items():
        if value is var:
            return name

# Example usage:
my_variable = 42
variable_name = get_var_name(my_variable)
print(f"The variable name is: {variable_name}")
print(type(variable_name))

Output

The variable name is: my_variable
<class 'str'>