scope of generators, class variables, resulting in global na

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:57:15 -0800, dontspamleo wrote:

> I think a big part of the problem is that the scoping rules in Python
> are inconsistent because classes are a different kind of object. An
> example helps:
[...]
> But this doesn't work...
> class C:
>   x = 1
>   def f(self,y): return x + y
> 
> ...although what was probably meant was this, which does work... 
> class C:
>   x = 1
>   def f(self,y): return self.x + y

Yes, this is a deliberate design choice. See below.

 
> ...and really means this...
> class C:
>   x = 1
>   def f(self,y): return T.x + y

I don't understand what T is. Did you mean C?

If so, you are wrong. self.x is not the same as <class>.x due to 
inheritance rules. Consider one example:

>>> class A:
...     x = 1
...     def __init__(self, x=None):
...         if x is not None:
...             self.x = x
...
>>> class B(A):
...     def f(self, y): return self.x + y
...
>>> class C(A):
...     def f(self, y): return C.x + y
...
>>>
>>> B(5).f(10)
15
>>> C(5).f(10)
11


I have no doubt that there will be other examples involving multiple 
inheritance, but I trust I've made my point.


> I argue that it is more consistent to have the scope for classes be
> consistent with the scope of everything else, which makes the early/
> late binding point mute.

Yes, it would be more consistent, but less useful. Apart from methods 
themselves, using class attributes is a relatively rare thing to do, but 
using global level names inside methods is very common.

 
> I know this is a major change, that it would break existing code, etc.
> It would have been better to talk about these things before py3k. Still:
> 
> 1. Has this been discussed before?

Yes.
 
> 1. What would this suggestion break?

Nearly all existing code using classes, which is nearly everything.
 
> 2. What are the advantages of making the scope of class variables
> different? Maybe is it just a historical trait?

See the discussion in the PEP for introducing nested scopes in the first 
place:

http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0227/




-- 
Steven