Class design (information hiding)

[Alex Martelli]

Gregor Horvath <gh at gregor-horvath.com> wrote:

> Alexander Eisenhuth schrieb:
> > 
> > I'm wodering how the information hiding in python is ment. As I 
> > understand there  doesn't exist public / protected / private  mechanism,
> > but a '_' and '__' naming convention.
> > 
> > As I figured out there is only public and private possible as speakin in
> > "C++ manner". Are you all happy with it. What does "the zen of python"
> > say to that design? (protected is useless?)
> 
> My favourite thread to this FAQ:
> 
>
> http://groups.google.at/group/comp.lang.python/browse_thread/thread/2c85
> d6412d9e99a4/b977ed1312e10b21#b977ed1312e10b21

Why, thanks for the pointer -- I'm particularly proud of having written
"""
The only really workable way to develop large software projects, just as
the only really workable way to run a large business, is a state of
controlled chaos.
"""
*before* I had read Brown and Eisenhardt's "Competing on the Edge:
Strategy as Structured Chaos" (at that time I had no real-world interest
in strategically managing a large business -- it was based on mere
intellectual curiosity and extrapolation that I wrote "controlled chaos"
where B & E have "structured chaos" so well and clearly explained;-).

BTW, if you want to read my entire post on that Austrian server, the
most direct URL is
<http://groups.google.at/group/comp.lang.python/msg/b977ed1312e10b21?>
...


Alex