private variables/methods

[gabor]

hi,

as far as i know in python there aren't any private (i mean not accessible 
from the outside of the object) methods/fields.

why?

in java/c++ i can make a method private, this way unaccessible for the outside
world. i think it helps a lot to make for example a library more robust.

i know that there is some kind of notation to make a method/field private,
but one can still overwrite it's value.

what's the reason for this?

i'l mostly interested in the design reasons.

thanks,
gabor

-- 
That's life for you, said McDunn.  Someone always waiting for someone 
who never comes home.  Always someone loving something more than that 
thing loves them.  And after awhile you want to destroy whatever 
that thing is, so it can't hurt you no more.
                -- R. Bradbury, "The Fog Horn"