"self" - a python wart or "feature"

[Mongryong]

On Mon, 2003-02-17 at 00:16, Cere Davis wrote:
> Thanks but I'm having diffuculty understanding how this FAQ answers my 
> question about requiring self as the first argument in a function.
> I can appreciate clarity of scope for variables but it seems to me that 
> requiring an extra argument in a function that is allready indented into 
> the class
> to be unnecessary.  From what little I know about Ruby, it does not 
> require this for function declarations within a class.  

Consider this example:

class Receiver:
	def __init__(self, x):
		self.x = x

	def execute(self):
		self.x = self.x + 1
		return self.x


class Caller:
	def __init__(self, func, arg):
		self.func = f
		self.arg = arg

	def run(self):
		return self.f(arg)

class Struct:
	pass

def rxFunc(arg):
	arg.x = arg.x + 1
	return arg.x

ex#1
>>> obj = Struct()
>>> obj.x = 3
>>> tx = Caller(rxFunc, obj)
>>> tx.run()
4

ex#2
>>> obj = Receiver(3)
>>> tx = Caller(Receiver.execute, obj)
>>> tx.run()
4

ex#3
>>> obj = Struct()
>>> obj.x = 3
>>> tx = Caller(Receiver.execute, obj)
>>> tx.run()
4

ex#4

class Receiver2(Receiver):
	def __init__(self, x, y):
		self.x = x
		self.y = y

	def execute (self):  # overrides Receiver.execute
		z = self.x + self.y
		return z

>>> rx2 = Receiver(1,2)
>>> rx2.execute()
3
>>> Receiver.execute(rx2)
2
>>> rx2.x
2

That's what Python allows you to do.  This feature allows one to develop
'callback' code that supports both 'classes' and 'procedural' style
programming.  As ex#3 and ex#4 show, this feature also allows one to
'mix' code.  In a way, Python's OO support is much closer to how OO is
done in C.