[Compiler-sig] __getattr__ inflexibility

[John Max Skaller]

Ludvig Svenonius wrote:
> 
> I was wondering about the __getattr__-built-in method. Currently it is
> called only if the attribute could not be found in the instance dictionary.
> Would it not be more flexible to -always- call it upon referencing an
> attribute

This won't work because _inside_ the getattr method, we cannot
refer to any of the object's attributes, since doing so will
recursively invoke the __getattr__ method.

This would _also_ destroy the __setattr__ case, since it
_relies_ on being able to get the __dict__ attribute of an
instance, in order to store attributes (since __setattr__ IS
always invoked on set operation): you have to write

	self.__dict__['attr'] = value

in a __setattr__ method to store a value.

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John (Max) Skaller, mailto:skaller@maxtal.com.au
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