["python","if-statement"]
Pythonic way to check if something exists?

I was wondering if there is a pythonic way to check if something does not exist. Here's how I do it if its true: var = 1 if var: print 'it exists' but when I check if something does not exist, I often do something like this: var = 2 if var: print 'it exists' else: print 'nope it does not' Seems like a waste if all I care about is kn Is there a way to check if something does not exist without the else?
EAFP style, "easier to ask forgiveness than permission": try: var except NameError: var_exists = False else: var_exists = True LBYL style, "look before you leap": var_exists = 'var' in locals() or 'var' in globals() Prefer the first style (EAFP) when coding in Python, because it is generally more reliable.