Title:Python global vs nonlocal Explained in 60 Seconds 🔥 | Python Scope Explained #hitcodear

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]Python has a scope trap that confuses even senior developers. Global versus non-local.

[00:00:07]By default, Python creates a new local variable inside functions. So, if you try modifying an outside variable directly, you'll get unexpected behavior or errors. That's where global and non-local come in. Global is used to modify variables from the global program scope. In this example, x starts as 10.

[00:00:28]Inside the change function, we use global x, then update it to 20.

[00:00:33]Next comes the interesting part. Inside the bank function, we create a nested function called deposit. Here, balance is a global variable. So, we use global balance to update it. But transactions belongs to the outer bank function. So, inside deposit, we use non-local transactions to modify that enclosing variable. Then every deposit updates both the balance and the transaction count. Finally, when we call account with 5200, the balance increases and transactions keep tracking correctly. That's the real difference. Global modifies program level variables while non-local modifies variables from an enclosing function scope.