python-2.1 function attributes

[Tim Peters]

[Aahz Maruch]
> One thing I'm not clear on from all this discussion is whether one
> can do this:
>
> def f():
>     f.a = 1

Sure, but there's no magic here:

1. f.a won't exist before you execute f() for the first time, so
I wouldn't *recommend* it.

2. The name "f" is not in f's local namespace (not in 2.1, or in
1.0 -- it's never been, and nothing has changed there), so this
does not "work":

class F:
    def f(self):
        f.a = 1

In the absence of any other "f" in the global namespace, executing F().f()
will yield something like

    NameError: global name 'f' is not defined

when it gets to the "f.a = 1".

Note that these are nothing new, they're siblings of the old "why can't I
write a nested function/method that invokes itself recursively?" FAQ.

The intended way to write those:

def f():
    xxx
f.a = 1

class F:
    def f(self):
        xxx
    f.a = 1