"GE" == Greg Ewing <greg@cosc.canterbury.ac.nz> writes:
GE> Anyone with an interest in the string functions vs. GE> string methods debate should read this article, which GE> was referenced in comp.lang.python recently: | How Non-Member Functions Improve Encapsulation | by Scott Meyers | http://www.cuj.com/archive/1802/feature.html GE> Mr. Meyers presents some very well-reasoned arguments GE> against the everything-should-be-a-method mentality. Remember that Meyers is talking about C++ here, where there's a distinction in the `friendliness' of a function. He himself says that the choice is between non-member non-friend functions and member functions (i.e. methods). Friend functions have the same dependency on implementation changes as methods. In Python, there is no such friend distinction, although you can come close to faking it with private names. So the argument based on degrees of encapsulation doesn't hold water in Python. in-python-everyone's-your-friend-and-thank-guido-for-that-ly y'rs, -Barry