http://www.prtproject.com

What do you think? I think old Walt’s peoplemover was on the right track (pun intented).

gary

1) I happen to see this as an example of Python’s self-documenting tendencies. The self argument could be left explicit, but a) I find that the consistency of idiom (”self is just another argument”) actually makes it easier to read; and b) it clarifies the concept for people who are learning to program object-oriented code. You might scoff at the latter; but a language like python encourages good coding practices by making them easier, and learning the concepts behind the language you use is a good coding practice.

Another advantage: there’s nothing stopping you from using “me” instead of “self”, except convention. But in javascript you have to use “this.”

2. I think typing @ is harder than typing two single quotes.

And again, Python self-documents: {’foo’:bar} actually conveys the sense that “foo” is a name. But what does @foo mean? It’s nowhere near as intuitive.

3. I honestly have no opinion about double-underscores. But I don’t see how they’re any more annoying than any other set-this-apart convention (would INIT() be any better?). It ought to have some kind of visual impact, and things with visual impact are a little annoying. That’s the whole point.

4. Actually, I agree that this might not be necessary, except on single-line statements. But somewhere in the back of my head I suspect that I am wrong to feel this way. I guess Python has its grips in me…