python development practices?

[Paul Rubin]

Peter Wang <pzw1 at cor-no-spam-nell.edu> writes:
> while i feel that Python makes me far more productive as a programmer
> for all the projects on which i've worked, i'm inclined to agree that
> the lack of data hiding coupled with lack of a standard interface
> specification would cause problems in a team.

Well, there's cheesy data hiding in the sense that instance variables
whose names begin with underscores are difficult to reach from other
modules.  

If by "interfaces" you mean Java-like interfaces, that's a bogus
criticism since Python supports multiple base classes, which let
you do the same things and then some.

I agree with the criticism about the tool environment, and would also
have to say the runtime library isn't what I'd call "industrial strength".

> how do Python development teams get around these issues?  does using
> Python in a commercial software team simply require more disciplined
> programmers?

> are there good references on using Python in a commercial, team
> development environment?

I don't know about Python, but large systems have been built in Lisp,
and there have been some studies too.  Lisp's runtime semantics are
fairly similar to Python, though the development environments are
far more highly evolved.