exec statement: exec code [ in globals[, locals]] When I execute the following code in python, the result really confused me. Some of the variables were setup into the globals, some were setup into the locals. s = """ # test var define int_v1 = 1 list_v1 = [1, 2, 3] dict_v1 = {1: 'hello', 2:'world', 3:'!'} # test built-in function list_v2 = [float(x) for x in list_v1] len_list_v1 = len(list_v1) # test function define def func(): global g_var, list_v1, dict_v1 print 'access var in globals:' print g_var print 'access var in locals:' for x in list_v1: print dict_v1[x] """ g = {'__builtins__': __builtins__, 'g_var': 'global'} l = {} exec s in g, l print 'globals:', g print 'locals:', l exec 'func()' in g, l the result in python2.6.5: globals: {'__builtins__': <module '__builtin__' (built-in)>, 'dict_v1': {1: 'hello', 2: 'world', 3: '!'}, 'g_var': 'global', 'list_v1': [1, 2, 3]} locals: {'int_v1': 1, 'func': <function func at 0x00ACA270>, 'x': 3, 'len_list_v1': 3, 'list_v2': [1.0, 2.0, 3.0]} access var in globals: global access var in locals: hello world ! And if I want to setup all variables and functions into the locals, and keep the rights of accessing the globals. How to do ?