On Tue, 28 Jun 2011 11:54:39 +0100, Michael Foord <fuzzyman@voidspace.org.uk> wrote:
On 28/06/2011 11:44, Fred Drake wrote:
But "callable attributes" aren't the same thing as methods; most are methods, but not all. Sometimes, they're data used by the object. The fact that data attributes can be callable is irrelevant.
Added to which there are other descriptors, notably property, that are not directly callable but are not provided as normal "data attributes" (although the access syntax is the same). Properties are much closer to methods as they are implemented on the class and fetched via the descriptor protocol. Instead of "data attributes" I prefer the term "instance attributes" although that doesn't include "class attributes" (or more precisely it doesn't cover "class attributes that aren't descriptors").
Also, instances can have methods as instance attributes. Trying to use 'instance attributes' for non-method attributes is a bad idea, I think. Given that there is no one thing that covers all non-method attributes, I suspect 'non-method attributes' is as good as we're going to manage. -- R. David Murray http://www.bitdance.com