> Object-oriented designs are difficult to design in any programming > language, and it helps to have some sort of concrete problem to drive > the discussion. Are you working on a particular design where you > think Python's philosophy will inhibit good design? My take on Python > is that it focuses more on enabling good designs than preventing bad > designs. I prefer this to Java, for example, which I feel inhibits me > from expressiveness at a higher cost than any supposed benefits > private/protected would give me.
Thanks for the reply. No, I was just working with a normal library class which was supposed to be derived. So that's what I did, but in the process I found myself needing to create an instance variable and it dawned on me: "how do I know I'm not clobbering something here???" ... I'd have to look at the docs, right? But I still wasn't sure ... so, then I thought "let's look at the source", and then I found out. But! It took me some time to make sure, and I was puzzled as well. I mean, what if I have no source to look at? What if the library I'm using doesn't realase the source, or what if I just can't get my hands on it for some reason or another? That was a big disappointment with Python for sure. Somehow PHP makes me feel a little safer, in that respect at least. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
