[Tutor] Why begin a function name with an underscore

[Mark Lawrence]

On 28/08/2012 05:13, Richard D. Moores wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 6:33 PM, Japhy Bartlett <japhy at pearachute.com> wrote:
>
>> something like:
>>
>> def _validate_int(obj):
>>      """Raise an exception if obj is not an integer."""
>>      m = int(obj + 0)  # May raise TypeError.
>>      if obj != m:
>>          raise ValueError('expected an integer but got %r' % obj)
>>
>>
>> is a really awkward way to test if something's an integer, and checking
>> types in general is usually a sign of larger flaws in laying out useful
>> code.
>
> What the best way to test if something's an integer?
>
> Dick Moores
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I rarely if ever test for any object type.  I certainly wouldn't bother 
with the function above, I'd just like the program bomb and fix the 
fault at source.  YMMV.

-- 
Cheers.

Mark Lawrence.