Python compile() built-in function

From the Python 3 documentation

Compile the source into a code or AST object. Code objects can be executed by exec() or eval(). source can either be a normal string, a byte string, or an AST object. Refer to the ast module documentation for information on how to work with AST objects.

Introduction

The compile() function in Python is a built-in function that is used to convert a string or an Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) object into a code object. This code object can then be executed by functions like exec() or eval().

Example

Here’s a basic example of how it works:

code_string = """
def hello_world():
    print('Hello, world!')
"""

# Compile the string into a code object
code_object = compile(code_string, '<string>', 'exec')

# Execute the code object
exec(code_object)

# Call the function defined in the code object
hello_world()

In this example, a string containing Python code is compiled into a code object using compile(), and then executed with exec(). The function hello_world() defined in the string is then available to be called.