Why does python not have a mechanism for data hiding?

[Sh4wn]

On 24 mei, 15:58, Ben Finney <bignose+hates-s... at benfinney.id.au>
wrote:
> Sh4wn <luckyluk... at gmail.com> writes:
> > first, python is one of my fav languages, and i'll definitely keep
> > developing with it. But, there's 1 one thing what I -really- miss:
> > data hiding. I know member vars are private when you prefix them with
> > 2 underscores, but I hate prefixing my vars, I'd rather add a keyword
> > before it.
>
> From whom are you trying to hide your attributes?
>
> In Python, the philosophy "we're all consenting adults here" applies.
> You shouldn't pretend to know, at the time you write it, all the uses
> to which your code will be put. Barriers such as enforced "private"
> attributes will only cause resentment when people, despite your
> anticipations, *need* to access them and are then forced to hack their
> way around them.
>
> If you want the users of your code to know that an attribute should
> not be used as a public API for the code, use the convention of naming
> the attribute with a single leading underscore. This is a string
> signal that the attribute is part of the implementation, not the
> interface. The reader is then on notice that they should not rely on
> that attribute; but they are not *prohibited* from using it if
> necessary to their ends.
>
> > Python advertises himself as a full OOP language, but why does it
> > miss one of the basic principles of OOP?
>
> Who taught you that enforced restrictions on attribute access was a
> "basic principle" of OO?
>
> Perhaps you're confusing the "encapsulation" and "abstraction"
> principles for enforced access restrictions; they're not.
>
> > Will it ever be added to python?
>
> I hope not.
>
> --
>  \            "Why was I with her? She reminds me of you. In fact, she |
>   `\             reminds me more of you than you do!"  -- Groucho Marx |
> _o__)                                                                  |
> Ben Finney

Well for me, it the ideal way to make sure it contains so 'wrong'
data. You can create getter/setters, and in some cases only a getter
and validate the value given by the user. Then you'll not have to
worry about the data in the rest of your class, which makes life a lot
easier IMO.