title: Python equivalent of R assign
body: <p>In R, I can use <a href="https://stat.ethz.ch/R-manual/R-devel/library/base/html/assign.html" rel="noreferrer">assign</a> to assign a value to a name in environment on the fly (rather than <code>&lt;-</code>.  </p>
  
  <p>Example:</p>
  
  <pre><code>&gt; assign('x', 1)
  &gt; x
  [1] 1
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Does Python has an equivalent to assign rather than <code>=</code>?</p>