"Private" Member Variables

[Matteo Dell'Amico]

Scott Brady Drummonds wrote:

> What are your thoughts?  How much privacy should I build into my code?
> Should I be using variables beginning with "__" and accessors?  Or is that
> simply not necessary (or normal) in Python code?

The motto here is "we are all consenting adults". If the class users 
need to access a variable, then why not make it directly available?

If you later notice that you'd need an accessor method, since the value 
of the "variable" has got to be precomputed, then use properties[1]. For 
instance:

class Rectangle(object):
     def __init__(self, b, h):
         self.b, self.h = b, h
     def get_area(self):
         return self.b * self.h
     area = property(get_area)

In this case the property is read-only, but you can also put a setter if 
you need it.

[1] You need new-style classes for properties, so make sure you inherit 
from object or one of its descendants.

-- 
Ciao,
Matteo