[Python-Dev] dir() in inspect.py ? (original) (raw)

Christian Tismer tismer at stackless.com
Tue May 15 22:13:04 CEST 2012

Hi,

by chance I looked into the impl of inspect.getmembers today and was slightly shocked:

def getmembers(object, predicate=None): """Return all members of an object as (name, value) pairs sorted by name. Optionally, only return members that satisfy a given predicate.""" results = [] for key in dir(object):

According to

http://docs.python.org/library/functions.html

""" Note Because dir() is supplied primarily as a convenience for use at an interactive prompt, it tries to supply an interesting set of names more than it tries to supply a rigorously or consistently defined set of names, and its detailed behavior may change across releases. For example, metaclass attributes are not in the result list when the argument is a class. """

This is a bit inconsistent, and I think the standard lib should be the best example for clean code that is consistent with the docs.

Is the usage of dir() correct in this context or is the doc right? It would be nice to add a sentence of clarification if the use of dir() is in fact the correct way to implement inspect.

cheers - chris

-- Christian Tismer :^)<mailto:tismer at stackless.com> tismerysoft GmbH : Have a break! Take a ride on Python's Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 121 : Starship http://starship.python.net/ 14482 Potsdam : PGP key -> http://pgp.uni-mainz.de work +49 173 24 18 776 mobile +49 173 24 18 776 fax n.a. PGP 0x57F3BF04 9064 F4E1 D754 C2FF 1619 305B C09C 5A3B 57F3 BF04 whom do you want to sponsor today? http://www.stackless.com/

More information about the Python-Dev mailing list