RE: [Python-Dev] Accessing globals without dict lookup

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In the face of exec statements or calls to execfile can't the compiler just generate the usual LOAD_NAME fallback instead of the new- fangled LOAD_GLOBAL opcode?

Note that exec doesn't have to be passed a string: you can pass it a compiled code object just as well. The compiler can't guess how a code object will be used at the time it's compiled. In theory there would be nothing to stop exec from rewriting the bytecode in a compiled code object passed to it, but I doubt we could get Guido to buy that trick until he first buys rewriting bytecode to set debugger breakpoints <wink>.