The built-in Python function eval() is used to evaluate Python expressions. You can pass a string containing Python, or a pre-compiled object into eval() and it will run the code and return the result.

Although Python’s eval() is an incredibly useful tool, the function has some important security implications that you should consider before using it. In this course, you’ll learn how eval() works and how to use it safely and effectively in your Python programs.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn:

How Python’s eval() works
How to use eval() to dynamically evaluate arbitrary string-based or compiled-code-based input
How eval() can make your code insecure and how to minimize the associated security risks
The code in this course was tested with Python 3.9.0, eval() has not changed much and older versions should be compatible.