[Python-ideas] fixing mutable default argument values

[Jim Jewett]

On 1/18/07, George Sakkis <gsakkis at rutgers.edu> wrote:
> On 1/18/07, Jim Jewett <jimjjewett at gmail.com> wrote:

> > But he actually ones a variable that *does* keep state between calls
> > (like a mutable default arg), but can't be overridden.

> > For What Its Worth, my personal opinion is that having to create an
> > object instead of a function is annoying, but not so bad (or so
> > frequent) that it is worth special syntax.

> Function attributes fit the bill really good if writing a class is too
> much overhead.

Not really, because Python doesn't have the equivalent of "this".  The
only way for a function to access its own attributes is to hardcode a
name and to assume the name will always refer to that same function
object.

In practice, it mostly works, but so does just using a global variable.

-jJ