[Python-Dev] Issue10403 - using 'attributes' instead of members in documentation

[Michael Foord]

On 28/06/2011 13:56, Michael Foord wrote:
> On 28/06/2011 13:31, Nick Coghlan wrote:
>> On Tue, Jun 28, 2011 at 8:54 PM, Michael Foord
>> <fuzzyman at voidspace.org.uk>  wrote:
>>> The problem with "data attributes" is that it doesn't mean 
>>> *anything*, which
>>> I suppose is useful for invented terminology, but it means it 
>>> doesn't convey
>>> anything precise to those who haven't heard the term before. If it 
>>> becomes
>>> widely used then that changes I guess. I'd still normally just use
>>> "attributes" though...
>> In this context, precision is an illusion. There is *no* precise
>> terminology,
> "instance members" is precise, (whether or not an attribute is fetched 
> "from the instance" is one thing that is clear in the python data 
> model - there are just lots of other ways of fetching attributes too). 
> "instance members" just doesn't cover all the cases where you may want 
> to group attributes together though.
>
> However, providing "__getattr__" and "__getattribute__" is not the 
> common case and even properties are *usually* backed by a real 
> instance attribute. So "instance attributes" as opposed to other types 
> of attributes is *often* a useful distinction.
>
> I don't think "data attributes" is clear or precise. 

Although to be fair "data attributes" mirrors the terminology for 
descriptors where we have "data descriptors" (which have both __set__ 
and __get__) and "non data descriptors" (__get__ only). Unfortunately 
there are also non-non-data decriptors too (only __set__ and / or 
__delete__) so that terminology is at least slightly confusing / 
imprecise [1]... There was a genuine Python "bug" caused by that 
confusion at one point (unfortunately I forget what it was).

All the best,

Michael

[1] From: http://users.rcn.com/python/download/Descriptor.htm

     If an object defines both __get__ and __set__, it is considered a 
data descriptor. Descriptors that only define __get__ are called 
non-data descriptors (they are typically used for methods but other uses 
are possible).


> Is a property a data attribute (well it depends how it is implemented 
> and what it does), is a staticmethod a data attribute (no - but then 
> Tres' question - it isn't a normal method either so if you define data 
> attribute to mean "all non method attributes" then its potentially an 
> open question).
>
> All the best,
>
> Michael Foord
>
>> not only because Python blurs the boundaries by design in
>> many respects (callable or not, method or not, attribute or not, etc),
>> but also because *people* use the same words to mean slightly
>> different things.
>>
>> The best we can hope for is to encourage the right way of thinking
>> about the situation, and in that regard you have the complete set of
>> attributes accessible via an object (i.e. via __getattribute__), some
>> of which are callables (and may or may not act like instance methods)
>> and the remainder of which are data attributes (some of which may
>> incidentally be callable, even if they aren't used that way). How a
>> *particular* attribute is classified is not an inherent property of
>> the attribute, but also an artifact of the way it is used by the
>> application.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Nick.
>>
>
>


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