[Python-Dev] OT: style convention: self vs. _ in new Norvig's book (original) (raw)

Barry A. Warsaw barry@zope.com
Mon, 21 Jan 2002 11:10:04 -0500

"GvR" == Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org> writes:

GvR> The _ name is already overloaded with multiple meanings in
GvR> the Python community: it's a shorthand for the last evaluated
GvR> expression in interactive mode, and some people use it as a
GvR> dummy variable to assign uninteresting results to.

It's also the common name of a function in internationalized Python applications (mostly inherited from established conventions in the C world).

-Barry