[XML-SIG] Ugh! Why are DOM access methods spelled with a leading '_'?

[Jim Fulton]

Uche Ogbuji wrote:
> 
> > Traditionally, Python attributes (including methods) with
> > names starting with '_' were treated as private.
> 
> This is an informal tradition, not universal, and hardly normative.

I disagree on two points.

  - It is not entirely informal:

    o import * from foo 
      imports only names that don't start with '_'.

    o Private attributes are based on a leading '_'
      spelling

  - Normative is hard to judge, but I think that this
    is a pretty widely used practice.

> > Why oh why then does the Python DOM implementation use
> > method names beginning with '_'s in the public API (for
> > getting attributes), as in '_get_nodeType'? Why not
> > 'get_nodeType' or 'getNodeType'? Is the intent that these
> > functions shouldn't be called by Python code?
> 
> We have it this way in order to follow the Python/CORBA mapping.

OK, that's why I've taken this discussion to the do-sig
and the OMG. :) I think it's worth questioning, however,
whether the Python IDL bining *must* dictate the Python
DOM API.
 
Jim

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