[Python-Dev] PEP 318: Set attribs with .name = value (original) (raw)

Guido van Rossum guido at python.org
Wed Mar 31 00:06:00 EST 2004


Personally, I'd prefer to see function attributes made possible by allowing references to the name of the function from within the definition of the function.Eg:

def func(arg): func.attrib = value

Since this keeps coming up: this gets a -1000 from me (sorry Barry :).

It is currently valid syntax with valid semantics, and strongly suggest something it isn't: it looks as if the attribute assignment is done at function call time rather than at function definition time.

That is the kind of language design that becomes a real liability in the hands of someone who misinterprets it.

Ditto for variants like ".attrib = value" and even "@attrib = value" (which I proposed under a heading "thinking aloud" meaning I wasn't so sure of it).

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)



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