functional programming - Modify bound variables of a closure in Python

Question

Is there any way to modify the bound value of one of the variables inside a closure? Look at the example to understand it better.

def foo():
    var_a = 2
    var_b = 3

    def _closure(x):
        return var_a + var_b + x

    return _closure


localClosure = foo()

# Local closure is now "return 2 + 3 + x"
a = localClosure(1) # 2 + 3 + 1 == 6

# DO SOME MAGIC HERE TO TURN "var_a" of the closure into 0
# ...but what magic? Is this even possible?

# Local closure is now "return 0 + 3 + x"
b = localClosure(1) # 0 + 3 +1 == 4

Answer 1

It is quite possible in python 3 thanks to the magic of nonlocal.

def foo():
        var_a = 2
        var_b = 3

        def _closure(x, magic = None):
                nonlocal var_a
                if magic is not None:
                        var_a = magic

                return var_a + var_b + x

        return _closure


localClosure = foo()

# Local closure is now "return 2 + 3 + x"
a = localClosure(1) # 2 + 3 + 1 == 6
print(a)

# DO SOME MAGIC HERE TO TURN "var_a" of the closure into 0
localClosure(0, 0)

# Local closure is now "return 0 + 3 + x"
b = localClosure(1) # 0 + 3 +1 == 4
print(b)