28.3. __builtin__ — Built-in objects

This module provides direct access to all 『built-in』 identifiers of Python; for example, __builtin__.open is the full name for the built-in function open(). See 內建函式 and 內建常數 for documentation.

This module is not normally accessed explicitly by most applications, but can be useful in modules that provide objects with the same name as a built-in value, but in which the built-in of that name is also needed. For example, in a module that wants to implement an open() function that wraps the built-in open(), this module can be used directly:

import __builtin__

def open(path):
    f = __builtin__.open(path, 'r')
    return UpperCaser(f)

class UpperCaser:
    '''Wrapper around a file that converts output to upper-case.'''

    def __init__(self, f):
        self._f = f

    def read(self, count=-1):
        return self._f.read(count).upper()

    # ...

CPython implementation detail: Most modules have the name __builtins__ (note the 's') made available as part of their globals. The value of __builtins__ is normally either this module or the value of this modules’s __dict__ attribute. Since this is an implementation detail, it may not be used by alternate implementations of Python.