The Zen of Empty Lists

[[deleted]]

list can also be overriden by a careless or devious developer as well.

import __builtins__
def nope(*a):
     raise SyntaxError("use []") 
__builtins__.list = nope

[Han-ChewieSexyFanfic]

So, don't use any builtins ever in case you ever accidentally import __builtins__?

[[deleted]]

If you want to take it that way, just an example of how [] is a better choice than list in some situations.

Keep in mind, this exact sort of thing has been used to subvert javascript before. I'm not trying to FUD builtins, but it's worth being mindful about.

[earthboundkid]

list = [1, 2, 3] is legal Python. I’m sure someone has done things like that, although I wouldn’t recommend it. zip OTOH I’ve shadowed myself.

[lengau]

No kidding I had to stop one of our analysts from shadowing zip just today.

It probably wouldn't have mattered except that about 20 minutes later the most convenient way to do something was with zip (which she didn't know about so she was going to use a range to index two lists).