Python; get last answer

In many symbolic math systems, such as Matlab or Mathematica, you can use a variable like Ans or % to retrieve the last computed value. Is there a similar facility in the Python shell?

From stackoverflow Edward Z. Yang

• Underscore.

  >>> 5+5
  10
  >>> _
  10
  >>> _ + 5
  15
  >>> _
  15
  

  John Fouhy : It only works in the interactive shell, though. Don't rely on it for scripts.

  bk1e : Cool, that works in Ruby's `irb` shell as well.

  crystalattice : I never knew this but wondered about it for some time. Thanks.
  From Mark Cidade

• Just for the record, ipython takes this one step further and you can access every result with _ and its numeric value

  In [1]: 10
  Out[1]: 10
  
  In [2]: 32
  Out[2]: 32
  
  In [3]: _
  Out[3]: 32
  
  In [4]: _1
  Out[4]: 10
  
  In [5]: _2
  Out[5]: 32
  
  In [6]: _1 + _2
  Out[6]: 42
  
  In [7]: _6
  Out[7]: 42
  

  And it is possible to edit ranges of lines with the %ed macro too:

  In [1]: def foo():
     ...:     print "bar"
     ...:     
     ...:     
  
  In [2]: foo()
  bar
  
  In [3]: %ed 1-2
  

  Edward Z. Yang : Nice! I'll be sure to keep that in mind if I ever get annoyed at Python's shell (which is, admittedly, a long way off, since I'm used to PHP's tardtastic interactive mode).
  From Peter Hoffmann