[Python-Dev] Re: native code compiler? (or, OCaml vs. Python)

[holger krekel]

Guido van Rossum wrote:
> > > (We could make random.__dict__ read-only, like the new-style class
> > > __dict__, if you worry about other ways of stuffing unexpected
> > > variables inside it.
> > 
> > do you mean specifically random.__dict__ or any modules dict? 
> 
> Any module's dict.
> 
> > If the latter there would be quite some breakage.  It is at least
> > used for monkey patching modules to make them "unittestable" which
> > is a valid use case IMO.
> 
> Why would this be done by patching the module's __dict__ rather than
> assigning to attributes of the module?

I shortcircuited that with a module's readonly __dict__ you couldn't
do a setattr on the module anymore.  Which is not neccessarily so. 

thanks,
    
    holger