Flip variable and it's value

Question

I've done some looking on how I can flip a variable name and that variable's value, but I have come up empty-handed.

What I want

Let me clarify what I would like with an example. Imagine I had a variable called my_variable and it's value would be a string 'my_new_variable'

my_variable = 'my_new_variable'

Is there any way that I can flip these so that it may look like this

my_new_variable = 'my_variable'

Your dictionary solution seems plausible; why isn’t it sufficient? — DisappointedByUnaccountableMod, Jun 06 '21 at 19:58
A dictionary is in fact the perfect way to deal with something like this. Do you *really* want to have to debug the mess resulting from `my_variable = 'variables'`, or something else that inadvertently references an existing variable in your code? — jasonharper, Jun 06 '21 at 19:59
I agree that you should look into ways other than using `dict`. That would be far too easy. — Captain Trojan, Jun 06 '21 at 20:00
As this seems like an X-Y question, what’s the real problem? — DisappointedByUnaccountableMod, Jun 06 '21 at 20:01
@barny Yeah, I thought about this. But I'd like a couple of other ways than righting a dictionary. Maybe I might receive one that does not involve using one. — Buddy Bob, Jun 06 '21 at 20:02
Would it be best, to answer my own question? Remove `my go` and turn it into an answer? — Buddy Bob, Jun 06 '21 at 20:02
[with irony] Yeah I’m with @CaptainTrojan using a dictionary seems far too easy/simple/boring. Let’s all fight against simple solutions. — DisappointedByUnaccountableMod, Jun 06 '21 at 20:04

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 06 '21 at 20:02

A dict is the appropriate way to do this. Driving internal symbol names with data is a strong sign of poor program design. Please use the dict, and refer to XY Problem. External data should drive data relations, but not the internal representation. By doing so, you make your algorithm's structure dependent on the data. Data manipulation should be independent of those specific values.

You can do it;; a little research on this site will give you the references. Don't.

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 06 '21 at 20:06

3

Should you want to do that, how about

globals()[my_variable] = 'my_variable'

answered Jun 06 '21 at 20:06

j1-lee

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score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 06 '21 at 19:59

1

You can try doing this (after installing python-varname):

from varname import nameof
my_variable = 'my_new_variable'
exec("%s = '%s'" % (my_variable, nameof(my_variable))

answered Jun 06 '21 at 19:59

Captain Trojan

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hmm, this could be a solution. [Though](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1933451/why-should-exec-and-eval-be-avoided)... – Buddy Bob Jun 06 '21 at 20:00

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 06 '21 at 20:15

One way this could be done and suggested by almost everyone who has commented is by using a dictionary then flipping the keys and values.

variables = {'my_variable':'my_new_variable'}
flipped = {v:k for k,v in variables.items()}

output

{'my_new_variable': 'my_variable'}

Flip variable and it's value

4 Answers4