[Tutor] list of references to object properties

[DoanVietTrungAtGmail]

Hi Jose, have you thought about shallow copying?

I am learning Python too, so I can be wrong here. But I have just tried the
idea and it worked for me:

class celestialBody(object):
    def __init__(self, m, x, y, z):
        self.mass = m
        self.pos = [x, y, z]
    def __str__(self):
        return str(self.mass) + ' and ' + str(self.pos)

earth = celestialBody(1, 0, 0, 0)
jupiter = celestialBody(2, 2, 2, 2)
asteroid = celestialBody(0.00001, 1, 1, 1)

planetSystem = [earth, jupiter]

positionVectors = [earth.pos, jupiter.pos]

print "object earth's mass and original position is", earth

# Now we make changes to earth's coordinates one by one
# not by manipulating earth but by manipulating the positionVectors
positionVectors[0][0] = positionVectors[0][0] + 0.01*asteroid.pos[0]
positionVectors[0][1] = positionVectors[0][1] + 0.01*asteroid.pos[1]
positionVectors[0][2] = positionVectors[0][2] + 0.01*asteroid.pos[2]

print "object earth's new position, as seen in positionVectors, is",
positionVectors[0]
print "object earth's mass and new position, as seen in earth object, is",
earth
print "object earth's mass and new position, as seen in planetSystem, is",
planetSystem[0]

>>> ====================== RESTART ======================
>>>
object earth's mass and original position is 1 and [0, 0, 0]
object earth's new position, as seen in positionVectors, is [0.01, 0.01,
0.01]
object earth's mass and new position, as seen in earth object, is 1 and
[0.01, 0.01, 0.01]
object earth's mass and new position, as seen in planetSystem, is 1 and
[0.01, 0.01, 0.01]
>>>

As to Alan's ideas below, I don't really understand them.

Trung Doan
============
On Sun, Jan 20, 2013 at 5:01 AM, Alan Gauld <alan.gauld at btinternet.com>wrote:

> On 19/01/13 15:47, Jose Amoreira wrote:
>
>  motion. I defined a class, CelestialBody, that describes objects that
>> represent planets in my simulation. These objects have three attributes:
>> position, velocity and mass (the first two are 3D-vectors; as such, the
>> number of attributes is actually 7). The many-body system is represented
>> in the simulation by a list of CelestialBody objects.
>>
>
> OK, why not hold that list in the CelestialBody class?
>
> Then get the list to either hold a copy of the key values or generate it
> on demand. If the list of values is also in the class definition all the
> descendant types of body can update the class list at the same time as
> updating their own copy. It means duplicating data but it keeps the
> instances in control of the data while making it available (read-only, from
> the class) when needed. The overhead is creating the getter/setter methods
> to update the class list in parallel with the instance data.
>
> Alternatively store it once at class level and create properties of the
> instance that do all access in the class list. That way it looks like you
> are updating the instance but the instance delegates the storage to the
> class list. The instance can store its own  index into the class list as
> advised by the class on creation.
>
> There are ways of doing what you want that keep responsibility in the
> object. The choice will depend on how often you need to vary the instance
> values as opposed to using the class list.
>
>
> --
> Alan G
> Author of the Learn to Program web site
> http://www.alan-g.me.uk/
>
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