How to write Smart Python programs?

[Antoine De Groote]

Bruno Desthuilliers wrote:
>> And what does property mean anyway? 
> 
> See above. A property is a computed attribute : you access it like a
> 'data' attribute, but it really uses getters/setters. The point here is
> that client code doesn't know nor need to know if it's a plain attribute
> or a computed one. This let you change implementation (turn a plain
> attribute into a computed one) without breaking the API. So the real
> thing is not "don't use getters and setters", but "don't bother with
> getters and setters, you'll be able to add them transparently if and
> when needed".

Ok great, now I understand. It's nice actually :-)

For anyone else trying this for the first time, the following might be 
interesting, as I had trouble with this at first:
Don't forget to derive your class from object, otherwise properties 
won't work.

> As a side node, the getters/setters of a property are often either
> marked as implementation (the _leading_underscore convention) or deleted
> from the class's dict once the property is created or 'masked' one way
> or another so they don't pollute the class's namespace.

You mean like manually removed from the dict? Because (at least on the
system I tried) it doesn't happen automatically. (Windwos XP, Python 2.5)