x = "error" def test(x): class Test(object): x = x print "x:", x print "Test.x:", Test.x class Test2(object): y = x print "Test2.y:", Test2.y class Test3(object): y = x x = x print "Test3.x:", Test3.x print "Test3.y:", Test3.y class Test4(object): pass Test4.x = x print "Test4.x:", Test4.x test("success")