[Python-3000] Abilities / Interfaces

[Guido van Rossum]

On 11/22/06, Andrew Koenig <ark-mlist at att.net> wrote:
> > I'll try to make an argument for "Interface" over "Ability" using
> > examples from Zope.
>
> > It seems to me that not all interfaces coincide with something the
> > object can _do_.  Some speak to what can be done _to_ an object:
>
> When I see the word "interface", I think of the collection of method calls
> that a type supports, because the word is used that way in other well-known
> programming languages.  I am suggesting the word "ability" because it covers
> more than just method calls.

Hm, I would think it extends very naturally to instance variables, and
I see no reason why it's a particularly bad idea to also extend it
(mostly in our minds anyway, I expect) to describe certain behaviors
that cannot be expressed (easily) in code.

-- 
--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)