can you recover from reassigning __builtins__ in python?

Question

If I open up interactive mode and type:

__builtins__ = 0 # breaks everything

have I completely broken the session? If so, what is going on behind the scenes to assign __builtins__ to the builtin module that can't be handled by the interpreter? If not, how can I recover from this?

Just a few of my own attempts to fix it:

• Any attempt to import anything results in an error "ImportError __import__ not found"
• all functions I might use to do anything other than evaluate numerical expressions are broken
• There is another variable __package__ still accessible, but I don't know if/how it can be used.

Answer 1

You can usually get access to anything you need, even when __builtins__ has been removed. It's just a matter of digging far enough. For example:

Python 2.7.3 (default, Apr 10 2012, 23:31:26) [MSC v.1500 32 bit (Intel)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> __builtins__ = 0
>>> open
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
NameError: name 'open' is not defined
>>> dir
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
NameError: name 'dir' is not defined
>>> int
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
NameError: name 'int' is not defined
>>> float
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
NameError: name 'float' is not defined
>>>
>>> __builtins__ = [t for t in ().__class__.__bases__[0].__subclasses__() if 'warning' in t.__name__][0]()._module.__builtins__
>>>
>>> open
<built-in function open>
>>> int
<type 'int'>
>>> float
<type 'float'>
>>>

For an explanation of what the heck just happened here, read Eval really is dangerous, where similar techniques are used to demonstrate that you cannot safely execute untrusted Python code.

Answer 2

Basically messing with protected and reserved names means breaking your session, sometimes without a way to recover from.

For example, you can type in shell:

True = False # The chaos begins!

These are not possible with other programming languages, but python lets you do what you want, even if it'll break everything.

Answer 3

You're right; you can practically break a Python session. I doubt there's a way to completely destroy it - seeing Ned's answer was quite the revelation to me.

Being a very dynamic language, Python gives you a lot of rope to hang yourself with. Don't look at this as a flaw, though; a common Python slogan states that "we're all consenting adults here." If you understand the language and really know what you're doing, you have an insane amount of control over basically every aspect of Python.