[Python-Dev] PEP 8 and optional underscores

[Guido van Rossum]

On Thu, Jun 12, 2008 at 8:40 AM, Barry Warsaw <barry at python.org> wrote:
> Ideally, I would like for those considerations [i.e. whether an access is expensive]
> to not enter into the API
> design.  I'd rather keep it clean, with sufficient documentation to give
> hints about any additional costs involved.  Logically .alive is a property,
> so I'd like to write it that way.

I beg to differ. Ideally, API design should suggest which operations
are efficient and which ones aren't, in order to (subconsciously) help
the developer develop a mental model about the performance
characteristics of an API.

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