title: When is del useful in Python?
body: <p>I can't really think of any reason why Python needs the <code>del</code> keyword (and most languages seem to not have a similar keyword). For instance, rather than deleting a variable, one could just assign <code>None</code> to it. And when deleting from a dictionary, a <code>del</code> method could be added.</p>
  <p>Is there a reason to keep <code>del</code> in Python, or is it a vestige of Python's pre-garbage collection days?</p>