[Python-Dev] Namespaces (original) (raw)

Barry A. Warsaw barry@zope.com
Fri, 5 Apr 2002 21:31:35 -0500

"JH" == Jeremy Hylton <jeremy@zope.com> writes:

JH> I don't think that setting or getting an attribute is a name
JH> binding operation.

I'm curious why setting an attribute isn't a name binding operation? Are you binding the object to the attribute name in the object's attribute namespace? Since that maps to a setting in an dict (usually), what /would/ you call it?

"A" == Aahz <aahz@pythoncraft.com> writes:

A> Maybe yes and maybe no -- we'll argue about that later.  But do
A> you agree that it's still a binding operation of some sort?

Certainly a setter is, although we could argue about the getter (ignoring getters with side-effects).

A> If so, what's the generic term for all possible things that can
A> be bound *from*?  (They bind to objects, of course.)

I'm sure I don't follow. :)

I'd say that a binding operation is that which binds an object to a name in a particular namespace. But I'd want to prefix the term "namespace" with an adjective to be precise. An object's attribute namespace, a module's namespace, etc.

-Barry