Why does the exec() function work differently inside and outside of a function?-CodePudding

My question regards the following code examples: Example 1 works fine, while example 2 fails.

# example 1
string_one = 'greeting_one = "hello"'
exec(string_one)

print(greeting_one)

# example 2
def example_function():
    
    string_two = 'greeting_two = "hi"'
    exec(string_two)
    
    print(greeting_two)

example_function()

Example 1 creates the variables in the global scope and example 2 should create the variables in the local scope, otherwise those two should be identical (?). Instead example 2 gives the following error: name 'greeting_two' is not defined. Why is exec() not working as indented in example 2?

CodePudding user response：

Pass the current local scope to the function and use that as the local dictionary for exec(). This can set a variable in the local scope from a function that calls exec().

# example 2
def example_function(loc):
    string_two = 'greeting_two = "hi"'
    exec(string_two, loc)
    print(greeting_two) 

example_function(locals())