Python's most commonly used built-in functions, organized by alphabet. Each function is explained with a brief description, an example, and some fun 🎉 emojis to make it easier and more enjoyable to learn.

🔤 A

abs() – Absolute value

Returns the absolute value of a number

abs(-7) # 7 

all() – Checks if all items are True

Returns True if all elements in an iterable are true

all([1, 2, 3]) # True 

any() – Any item True?

Returns True if at least one element is True

any([False, 0, 5]) # True 

ascii() – String representation

Returns a string containing a printable representation

ascii("café") # "'caf\\xe9'" 

🧮 B

bin() – Binary representation

Returns binary version of a number

bin(5) # '0b101' 

bool() – Boolean value

Converts a value to Boolean (True or False)

bool(0) # False 

bytearray() – Mutable byte sequence

Creates a mutable array of bytes

bytearray('hello', 'utf-8') # bytearray(b'hello') 

bytes() – Immutable byte sequence

Creates an immutable bytes object

bytes('hello', 'utf-8') # b'hello' 

📞 C

chr() – Character from ASCII

Returns the character corresponding to an ASCII code

chr(65) # 'A' 

complex() – Complex numbers

Creates a complex number

complex(2, 3) # (2+3j) 

🗑️ D

delattr() – Delete attribute

Deletes an attribute from an object

class Car: color = "red" delattr(Car, "color") 

dict() – Dictionary

Creates a dictionary

dict(name="Alice", age=25) # {'name': 'Alice', 'age': 25} 

dir() – List attributes

Returns list of attributes of an object

dir([]) # Shows list methods like append(), sort(), etc. 

divmod() – Division & Modulus

Returns quotient and remainder

divmod(10, 3) # (3, 1) 

🔁 E

enumerate() – Index + Value

Returns index and value pairs

for i, val in enumerate(['a','b','c']): print(i, val) 

eval() – Evaluate expression

Evaluates a string as Python code

eval("2 + 3") # 5 

exec() – Execute code

Executes a block of Python code

exec("x = 5\nprint(x)") # 5 

🧹 F

filter() – Filter items

Filters iterable using a function

list(filter(lambda x: x > 3, [1,2,3,4,5])) # [4,5] 

float() – Float conversion

Converts a value to float

float("3.14") # 3.14 

format() – Format values

Formats a string

"{} {}".format("Hello", "World") # 'Hello World' 

frozenset() – Immutable set

Creates an immutable set

frozenset([1,2,3]) # frozenset({1,2,3}) 

💡 G

getattr() – Get attribute

Returns the value of a named attribute

class Dog: name = "Buddy" getattr(Dog, "name") # 'Buddy' 

globals() – Global variables

Returns dictionary of global variables

globals() 

🔍 H

hasattr() – Check attribute

Returns True if object has that attribute

hasattr(str, "upper") # True 

hash() – Hash value

Returns hash of an object

hash("hello") # Some integer 

help() – Documentation

Shows help documentation

help(list) 

hex() – Hexadecimal

Returns hexadecimal representation

hex(255) # '0xff' 

🔢 I

id() – Identity

Returns memory address of object

id("hello") 

input() – User input

Takes input from user

name = input("Enter name: ") 

int() – Integer conversion

Converts to integer

int("123") # 123 

isinstance() – Type check

Returns True if object is instance of class

isinstance(5, int) # True 

issubclass() – Inheritance check

Returns True if class is subclass

issubclass(bool, int) # True 

iter() – Iterator

Returns iterator object

it = iter([1,2,3]) next(it) # 1 

📏 L

len() – Length

Returns length of object

len("hello") # 5 

list() – List

Converts to list

list((1,2,3)) # [1,2,3] 

locals() – Local variables

Returns local variable dict

locals() 

🔄 M

map() – Apply function

Applies function to all items

list(map(lambda x: x.upper(), ["a"])) # ['A'] 

max() – Maximum

Returns maximum value

max([1,2,3]) # 3 

min() – Minimum

Returns minimum value

min([1,2,3]) # 1 

memoryview() – Memory view

Access internal data without copying

mv = memoryview(b'Hello') 

⏭️ N

next() – Next item

Returns next item from iterator

it = iter([1,2]) next(it) # 1 

📦 O

object() – Base class

Returns a new featureless object

obj = object() 

oct() – Octal

Returns octal representation

oct(8) # '0o10' 

open() – File opener

Opens a file

with open("file.txt") as f: content = f.read() 

ord() – ASCII code

Returns ASCII code for a character

ord('A') # 65 

🔥 P

pow() – Power

Raises a number to a power

pow(2, 3) # 8 

print() – Output

Prints output to console

print("Hello!") 

property() – Property

Used in classes to create managed attributes

class Circle: def __init__(self, radius): self._radius = radius @property def radius(self): return self._radius 

🔄 R

range() – Range of numbers

Generates sequence of numbers

list(range(1, 5)) # [1,2,3,4] 

repr() – Representation

Returns string representation

repr("hello") # "'hello'" 

reversed() – Reverse iterator

Returns reversed iterator

list(reversed([1,2,3])) # [3,2,1] 

round() – Round number

Rounds a number to n digits

round(3.1415, 2) # 3.14 

🛠️ S

set() – Set

Creates a set

set([1,2,2]) # {1,2} 

setattr() – Set attribute

Sets an attribute on an object

class Car: pass setattr(Car, "color", "blue") 

slice() – Slice object

Represents slicing

s = slice(1, 4) [0,1,2,3,4][s] # [1,2,3] 

sorted() – Sort

Returns sorted list

sorted([3,1,2]) # [1,2,3] 

staticmethod() – Static method

Marks a method as static

class Math: @staticmethod def add(a, b): return a + b 

str() – String

Converts to string

str(123) # '123' 

sum() – Summation

Adds all items

sum([1,2,3]) # 6 

super() – Parent class

Calls parent class method

class Child(Parent): def __init__(self): super().__init__() 

📦 T

tuple() – Tuple

Converts to tuple

tuple([1,2]) # (1,2) 

type() – Type

Returns type of object

type(5) # <class 'int'> 

📥 V

vars() – Object attributes

Returns __dict__ of an object

class Person: pass p = Person() vars(p) # {} 

📦 Z

zip() – Pair items

Pairs items from multiple iterables

list(zip([1,2], ['a','b'])) # [(1,'a'), (2,'b')] 

🧠 Special

__import__() – Import module

Used by import system internally

math = __import__('math') # Same as import math 

🚀 Summary Table