On Wed, 22 Sep 2010 07:06:50 am lists wrote: > As I understand it, it makes most sense to set/get the attribute of > an object using a method rather than doing it directly.
Heavens no!!! That's backwards! It might be justified in languages like Java, where you can't easily change your mind about direct attribute access. There's also a school of thought that disapproves of direct attribute access for a number of philosophical reasons, but if you strongly agree with that philosophy you'll probably find Python isn't a good language for you. (It has to do how much the compiler should forbid the programmer from doing, and how much software reliability that buys you.) 90% of the time, stick to direct attribute access, especially for short scripts and pre-release versions of software. If and only if you find that too limiting, or perhaps not limiting enough, then change to using getter and setter functions and properties. -- Steven D'Aprano _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
