Python vars() Function

Python’s built-in vars() function returns the __dict__ attribute of an object—a dictionary containing the object’s changeable attributes. Without argument, it returns the local symbol table similar to locals().

class Car:
    def __init__(self):
        self.speed = 100
        self.brand = 'porsche'

porsche = Car()
print(vars(porsche))
# {'speed': 100, 'brand': 'porsche'}

Python’s built-in vars() function returns a dictionary of name: value mappings of all the names defined in the local scope or the scope of the optional object argument, and their associated values.

• When used without an argument, vars() returns the same as locals() that returns a dictionary of name --> object mappings of names defined in the current local scope and objects being their associated values.
• When used with an object argument, vars(object) returns the same as object.__dict__() that returns a dictionary of name --> object mappings of writable names defined in the object’s scope and objects being their associated values.

Learn by example! Here’s an example on how to use the vars() built-in function.

Video vars()

vars() without Argument: Syntax and Example

Syntax: 
vars()         # Returns dictionary of "name --> value" mappings like locals()

When used without an argument, vars() returns the same as locals() that returns a dictionary of name --> object mappings of names defined in the current local scope and objects being their associated values.

>>> vars()
{'__name__': '__main__', '__doc__': None, '__package__': None, '__loader__': <class '_frozen_importlib.BuiltinImporter'>, '__spec__': None, '__annotations__': {}, '__builtins__': <module 'builtins' (built-in)>, '__file__': 'C:\\Users\\...\\code.py', 'find_path': <function find_path at 0x0000019B33898730>, 'G': [[1, 1, 0, 0, 0], [0, 1, 0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 1, 0, 0], [0, 1, 1, 1, 0], [1, 0, 0, 1, 1]]}
>>> locals()
{'__name__': '__main__', '__doc__': None, '__package__': None, '__loader__': <class '_frozen_importlib.BuiltinImporter'>, '__spec__': None, '__annotations__': {}, '__builtins__': <module 'builtins' (built-in)>, '__file__': 'C:\\Users\\...\\code.py', 'find_path': <function find_path at 0x0000019B33898730>, 'G': [[1, 1, 0, 0, 0], [0, 1, 0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 1, 0, 0], [0, 1, 1, 1, 0], [1, 0, 0, 1, 1]]}
>>> vars() == locals()
True

vars() with Argument: Syntax and Example

Syntax: 
vars(object)         # Returns same as object.__dict__()

When used with an object argument, vars(object) returns the same as object.__dict__() that returns a dictionary of name --> object mappings of writable names defined in the object’s scope and objects being their associated values.

>>> def f():
	x = 2

	
>>> vars(f)
{}
>>> f.y = 42
>>> vars(f)
{'y': 42}

As soon as you assign a new attribute y to the function object, it becomes available in the dictionary returned by the vars() function. However, the local variable x is not an attribute of f, so it is not part of the returned dictionary.

[How to Fix] TypeError: vars() argument must have __dict__ attribute

If you pass an argument into the vars() function that doesn’t have a __dict__() function, Python raises a TypeError. This means that the object in question doesn’t have any attributes such as an integer, float, list, etc.

>>> vars(42)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<pyshell#0>", line 1, in <module>
    vars(42)
TypeError: vars() argument must have __dict__ attribute

You can fix it by only passing arguments that have overwritten the __dict__ method such as a function or a custom object:

>>> def f():
	return 42

>>> vars(f)
{}
>>> f.val = 'YES'
>>> vars(f)
{'val': 'YES'}

Summary

Python’s built-in vars() function returns a dictionary of name: value mappings of all the names defined in the local scope or the scope of the optional object argument, and their associated values.

When used without an argument, vars() returns the same as locals() that returns a dictionary of name --> object mappings of names defined in the current local scope and objects being their associated values.

>>> vars()
{'__name__': '__main__', '__doc__': None, '__package__': None, '__loader__': <class '_frozen_importlib.BuiltinImporter'>, '__spec__': None, '__annotations__': {}, '__builtins__': <module 'builtins' (built-in)>, '__file__': 'C:\\Users\\...\\code.py', 'find_path': <function find_path at 0x0000019B33898730>, 'G': [[1, 1, 0, 0, 0], [0, 1, 0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 1, 0, 0], [0, 1, 1, 1, 0], [1, 0, 0, 1, 1]]}
>>> locals()
{'__name__': '__main__', '__doc__': None, '__package__': None, '__loader__': <class '_frozen_importlib.BuiltinImporter'>, '__spec__': None, '__annotations__': {}, '__builtins__': <module 'builtins' (built-in)>, '__file__': 'C:\\Users\\...\\code.py', 'find_path': <function find_path at 0x0000019B33898730>, 'G': [[1, 1, 0, 0, 0], [0, 1, 0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 1, 0, 0], [0, 1, 1, 1, 0], [1, 0, 0, 1, 1]]}
>>> vars() == locals()
True

When used with an object argument, vars(object) returns the same as object.__dict__() that returns a dictionary of name --> object mappings of writable names defined in the object’s scope and objects being their associated values.

>>> def f():
	x = 2

	
>>> vars(f)
{}
>>> f.y = 42
>>> vars(f)
{'y': 42}

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