Class-level variables - a scoping issue

[John Posner]

On 10/10/2010 3:07 PM, John Nagle wrote:
>
> I understand how the current semantics fall out of the obvious
> implementation. But I don't see those semantics as particularly
> desirable. The obvious semantics for globals are similar, but
> that case is so error-prone that it was made an error.

Nicely stated.

> (If you want default values for an instance, you define them
> in __init__, not as class-level attributes.)

Since it's unlikely that the language will change, perhaps a naming 
convention would help. I'm not sure I like this myself, but ...

Class attributes are often used as "class constants", so how about 
naming them with UPPERCASE names, like other constants? When you choose 
to override one of these constants, like this:

    self.EGGS = 4

... the awkward looks of the statement serve as a hint that something 
special is happening.

#------------
class SpamMeal:
     EGGS = 2

     def __init__(self, egg_count=None):
         if egg_count:
             self.EGGS = egg_count

     def Report(self):
         print "This meal includes %d eggs." % self.EGGS

meal = SpamMeal()
meal.Report()    # "This meal includes 2 eggs."

meal = SpamMeal(3)
meal.Report()    # "This meal includes 3 eggs."

meal = SpamMeal()
meal.EGGS = 4
meal.Report()    # "This meal includes 4 eggs."
#------------

-John Posner