[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Coming from a C++ / C# background, the lack of emphasis on private data > seems weird to me. I've often found wrapping private data useful to > prevent bugs and enforce error checking.. > > It appears to me (perhaps wrongly) that Python prefers to leave class > data public. What is the logic behind that choice?
The designers of Java, C++, C#, Ada95, Delphi, etc. seem to think that if an object's 'internal' variables or states cannot be kept private, programmers get an irresistible temptation to mess with them in malicious ways. But if you are that stupid, should you be programming in any language? The most widely used language is still C, and there is no concept of private data in C either, nor is it needed. As mentioned in other replies, it is not rocket science to access a class private data. In C++ you can cast to void*, in Java and C# you can use reflection. C++ is said to be an "unsafe" language because programmers can, using a few tricks, mess with the vtables. But how many really do that? In Python variables are kept in strict namespaces. You can ask the compiler to name mangle a variable by prepending underscores. The variable then becomes just as 'private' as a C++ private variable, because as previously mentioned, 'private' variables in C++ can be accessed through a cast to void*. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
