The dir function takes an object as input and returns all attributes or properties of the object. The attributes are returned in the form of a list.
dir(object) # object is any python object
The dir() function takes an object as a parameter. Built-in objects and user-defined objects can be passed as parameters. Even if no parameter is passed it will not throw an error.
Parameter | Description | Required / Optional |
---|---|---|
object | Any Python object whose attributes to be returned | Optional |
The function returns all attributes of the object passed, the built in attributes are also returned. If no parameter passed, names in the current local scope are returned.
Input | Return Value |
---|---|
None | returns a list of names in the current local scope. |
object | Returns the attributes of the object passed |
letters = {'a':1, 'b':2, 'c':3}
# Dictionary is a built in object in python
print(dir(letters))
Output:
[' class ', ' contains ', ' delattr ', ' delitem ', ' dir ', ' doc ', ' eq ', ' format ', ' ge ', ' getattribute ', ' getitem ', ' gt ', ' hash ', ' init ', ' init_subclass ', ' iter ', ' le ', ' len ', ' lt ', ' ne ', ' new ', ' reduce ', ' reduce_ex ', ' repr ', ' setattr ', ' setitem ', ' sizeof ', ' str ', ' subclasshook ', 'clear', 'copy', 'fromkeys', 'get', 'items', 'keys', 'pop', 'popitem', 'setdefault', 'update', 'values']
print(dir())
Output:
[' annotations ', ' builtins ', ' cached ', ' doc ', ' file ', ' loader ', ' name ', ' package ', ' spec ']
class Student:
name = "Ram"
age = 22
course = "Bachelors"
Student1 = Student()
print(dir(Student1))
Output:
[' class ', ' delattr ', ' dict ', ' dir ', ' doc ', ' eq ', ' format ', ' ge ', ' getattribute ', ' gt ', ' hash ', ' init ', ' init_subclass ', ' le ', ' lt ', ' module ', ' ne ', ' new ', ' reduce ', ' reduce_ex ', ' repr ', ' setattr ', ' sizeof ', ' str ', ' subclasshook ', ' weakref ', 'age', 'course', 'name'] # The built in attributes of class is also returned along with the user defined attributes