pass object or use self.object?

[Bruno Desthuilliers]

Tim Arnold a écrit :
> Hi,
> I have a few classes that manipulate documents. One is really a
> process that I use a class for just to bundle a bunch of functions
> together (and to keep my call signatures the same for each of my
> manipulator classes).
> 
> So my question is whether it's bad practice to set things up so each
> method operates on self.document or should I pass document around from
> one function to the next?

As far as I'm concerned, I strongly prefer passing the document around. 
Makes thing clear, avoids useless preconditions (is self.document set 
???) and race conditions (if two threads have to share the Manipulator 
instance), makes the code easier to understand / maintain / refactor IMHO.

Also remember that modules are objects too, so - depending on parts of 
your code we don't see here - you may even maintain your API without 
having to use a "class as module".

My 2 cents