Using global variables between files?

Solution 1:

The problem is you defined myList from main.py, but subfile.py needs to use it. Here is a clean way to solve this problem: move all globals to a file, I call this file settings.py. This file is responsible for defining globals and initializing them:

# settings.py

def init():
    global myList
    myList = []

Next, your subfile can import globals:

# subfile.py

import settings

def stuff():
    settings.myList.append('hey')

Note that subfile does not call init()— that task belongs to main.py:

# main.py

import settings
import subfile

settings.init()          # Call only once
subfile.stuff()         # Do stuff with global var
print settings.myList[0] # Check the result

This way, you achieve your objective while avoid initializing global variables more than once.

Solution 2:

See Python's document on sharing global variables across modules:

The canonical way to share information across modules within a single program is to create a special module (often called config or cfg).

config.py:

x = 0   # Default value of the 'x' configuration setting

Import the config module in all modules of your application; the module then becomes available as a global name.

main.py:

import config
print (config.x)

In general, don’t use from modulename import *. Doing so clutters the importer’s namespace, and makes it much harder for linters to detect undefined names.

Solution 3:

You can think of Python global variables as "module" variables - and as such they are much more useful than the traditional "global variables" from C.

A global variable is actually defined in a module's __dict__ and can be accessed from outside that module as a module attribute.

So, in your example:

# ../myproject/main.py

# Define global myList
# global myList  - there is no "global" declaration at module level. Just inside
# function and methods
myList = []

# Imports
import subfile

# Do something
subfile.stuff()
print(myList[0])

And:

# ../myproject/subfile.py

# Save "hey" into myList
def stuff():
     # You have to make the module main available for the 
     # code here.
     # Placing the import inside the function body will
     # usually avoid import cycles - 
     # unless you happen to call this function from 
     # either main or subfile's body (i.e. not from inside a function or method)
     import main
     main.mylist.append("hey")