[wodenokoto]

_5 is a magic variable with the value of the output from cell 5. _ refers to the last output. Super handy when working interactively.

[numlocked]

Oh my god. I have used Jupyter notebooks for 7 years and never knew this. I just had to fire one up to verify -- and yep; exactly as described. How amazing! Thank you!

[spondyl]

I believe the _5 syntax is specific to Jupyter, but in Python, the output of the last statement you execute is bound to _

For example, if you simply enter 4 into a Python REPL, printing _ will also print 4

It's really handy if you call a long statement in the REPL and forget to save the output to a variable

I wrote about it once if you'd like to see some better examples: https://utf9k.net/blog/lost-python-results/

[petters]

I knew this, which may be handy when developing (assigning variables is superior IMO though)

But in final output like this? I don't like it.

[wodenokoto]

No, you should not use output-references in code you share with people, but in my opinion it is one of the main reasons why jupyter notebooks in general put a large emphasis on displaying cell numbers

[ps101]

You just blew my mind.