[Python-Dev] Early PEP draft (For Python 3000?)

[Josiah Carlson]

Jim Jewett <jimjjewett at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> (In http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2005-October/057251.html)
> Eyal Lotem wrote:
> 
> > Name: Attribute access for all namespaces ...
> 
> >       global x ; x = 1
> > Replaced by:
> >       module.x = 1
> 
> Attribute access as an option would be nice, but might be slower.
> 
> Also note that one common use for a __dict__ is that you don't
> know what keys are available; meeting this use case with
> attribute access would require some extra machinery, such as
> an iterator over attributes.

This particular use case is easily handled.  Put the following once at
the top of the module...

module = __import__(__name__)

Then one can access (though perhaps not quickly) the module-level
variables for that module.  To access attributes, it is a quick scan
through module.__dict__, dir(), or vars().


Want to make that automatic?  Write an import hook that puts a reference
to the module in the module itself on load/reload.

 - Josiah