Question on class member in python

[Peter Otten]

Johnny Lee wrote:

> Class A:
>    def __init__(self):
>       self.member = 1
> 
>    def getMember(self):
>       return self.member
> 
> a = A()
> 
> So, is there any difference between a.member and a.getMember? thanks
> for your help. :)

Yes. accessor methods for simple attributes are a Javaism that should be
avoided in Python. You can always turn an attribute into a property if the
need arises to do some calculations behind the scene

>>> class A(object):
...     def getMember(self):
...             return self.a * self.b
...     member = property(getMember)
...     def __init__(self):
...             self.a = self.b = 42
...
>>> A().member
1764

I. e. you are not trapped once you expose a simple attribute.

Peter