why function got dictionary

[AlFire]

Hi,

I am seeking an explanation for following:

Python 2.5.2 (r252:60911, Apr 8 2008, 21:49:41)
[GCC 4.2.3 (Ubuntu 4.2.3-2ubuntu7)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.{}

Q: why function got dictionary? What it is used for?


Thx, Andy

 

[Diez B. Roggisch]

Hi,

I am seeking an explanation for following:

Python 2.5.2 (r252:60911, Apr 8 2008, 21:49:41)
[GCC 4.2.3 (Ubuntu 4.2.3-2ubuntu7)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.{}

Q: why function got dictionary? What it is used for?

because it is an object, and you can do e.g.

g.exposed = True

or similar stuff.

Diez

 

[bruno.desthuilliers]

Hi,

I am seeking an explanation for following:

Python 2.5.2 (r252:60911, Apr 8 2008, 21:49:41)
[GCC 4.2.3 (Ubuntu 4.2.3-2ubuntu7)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.{}

Q: why function got dictionary? What it is used for?

A: everything (or almost) in Python is an object. Including functions,
classes, modules etc.

 

[AlFire]

because it is an object, and you can do e.g.

you mean an object in the following sense?
True


where could I read more about that?

Andy

 

[Diez B. Roggisch]

you mean an object in the following sense?


Yes.


where could I read more about that?

I don't know. But essentially _everything_ in python is an object. Some of
them lack a __dict__ - e.g. int and float and such - for optimization
reasons. But apart from that, you can treat everything as an object.

Diez

 

[Tim Roberts]

you mean an object in the following sense?

True

where could I read more about that?

This is a very useful feature. As just one example, the CherryPy web
server framework lets you define a class to handle one directory in a web
site, where each page is mapped to member functions. However, you also
need to include support functions that should not be exposed as web pages.
To do that, you just add an "exposed" attribute to the function:

class MyWebPage:
...
def index( self, ... ):
pass
index.exposed = 1

def notExposed( self, ... ):
pass

def request( self, ... ):
pass
request.exposed = 1

 

[Christian Heimes]

A: everything (or almost) in Python is an object. Including functions,
classes, modules etc.

Everything you can access from or through Python code must be an object.
Every object has at least a type and a reference count.

Christian

 

[sturlamolden]

Q: why function got dictionary? What it is used for?

As previously mentioned, a function has a __dict__ like (most) other
objects.

You can e.g. use it to create static variables:

int foobar()
{
static int i = 0;
return i++;
}

is roughly equivalent to:

def foobar():
foobar.i += 1
return foobar.i
foobar.i = 0

 

[bruno.desthuilliers]

As previously mentioned, a function has a __dict__ like (most) other
objects.

You can e.g. use it to create static variables:

int foobar()
{
static int i = 0;
return i++;

}

is roughly equivalent to:

def foobar():
foobar.i += 1
return foobar.i
foobar.i = 0

barfoo = foobar
foobar = lambda x : x

And boom.

'static' variables are better implemented using either closures,
mutable default arguments or custom callable types.

 

[sturlamolden]

barfoo = foobar
foobar = lambda x : x

And boom.

That's why I used the qualifier 'roughly equivalent' and not simply
'equivalent'.

 

[Gabriel Genellina]

Q: why function got dictionary? What it is used for?

If you want more details, see PEP 232 that introduced function writable attributes in Python 2.1: http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0232/