Question: I'm trying to understand how classes work a bit better "under the hood" of python.

If I create a class `Foo` like so 

```
class Foo:
    bar = True

```

`Foo` is then directly accessible, such as `print(Foo)` or `print(Foo.bar)`

However, if I dynamically create create a class and **don't set it to a variable** like so

```
type('Foo',(),{'bar':True})

```

If done in the interpreter it shows `<class '__main__.Foo'>`. However, when I try to print `Foo` it's undefined...`NameError: name 'Foo' is not defined` 

Does this mean that when a class is created the "traditional" way (the first Foo class above), that python automatically sets a variable for the class of the same name? Sort of like this 

```
# I realize this is not valid, just to convey the idea
Foo = class Foo:
    bar = True

```

If so, then why doesn't python also create a variable named `Foo` set to class Foo when using `type()` to create it?

Answer: 
let's compare your problem with function statements and lambdas (because they play the same role here), consider this function `f` :

```
def f ():
  return 1

```

the above snippet of code is not an expression at all, it is a python statement that creates a function named `f` returning `1` upon calling it.

let's now do the same thing, but in a different way :

```
f = lambda : 1

```

the above snippet of code is a python expression (an assignment) that assigns the symbol `f` to the lambda expression (which is our function) `lambda : 1`. if we didn't do the assignment, the lambda expression would be lost, it is the same as writing `>>> 1` in the python REPL and then trying after that to reference it.
I think you're making this too complicated. If you don't assign a value / object to a symbol, it is always "lost". Doesn't matter if the value / object is a class or something else. Example:

```
x = 2 + 2

```

That assigns the value `4` to the symbol `x`. Compare to:

```
2 + 2

```

The operation is carried out but the result `4` isn't assigned to a symbol. 

Exact situation you have with classes.