3.3. OOP Attribute Access Modifiers¶

Attributes and methods are always public
No protected and private keywords
Private and protected is only by convention [1]
name - public attribute
_name - protected attribute (non-public by convention)
__name - private attribute (name mangling)
__name__ - system attribute (dunder)
name_ - avoid name collision with built-ins

>>> class Astronaut:
...     firstname: str          # public
...     lastname: str           # public
...     _height: int            # public, but... protected by convention
...     _weight: int            # public, but... protected by convention
...     __salary: str           # public, but... private by convention (name mangling)
...     __address: str          # public, but... private by convention (name mangling)
...     id_: int                # public, but... public, avoid name collision
...     type_: str              # public, but... public, avoid name collision
...     __doc__: str            # public, but... special meaning built-in (dunder)
...     __module__: str         # public, but... special meaning built-in (dunder)
...     __version__: str        # public, but... special meaning custom made (dunder)
...     __author__: str         # public, but... special meaning custom made (dunder)

3.3.1. SetUp¶

>>> from dataclasses import dataclass

3.3.2. Example¶

>>> class Astronaut:
...     def __init__(self):
...         self.firstname = 'Mark'
...         self.lastname = 'Watney'
...         self._salary = 10_000
...         self._address = '2101 E NASA Pkwy, Houston 77058, Texas, USA'
...         self.__username = 'mwatney'
...         self.__password = 'ares3'
...         self.id_ = 1337
...         self.type_ = 'astronaut'
...         self.__doc__ = 'Class representing an Astronaut'
...         self.__module__ = '__main__'
...         self.__version__ = '1.0.0'
...         self.__author__ = 'Mark Watney <mwatney@nasa.gov>'

3.3.3. Public Attribute¶

name - public attribute

>>> @dataclass
... class Astronaut:
...     firstname: str
...     lastname: str
>>>
>>>
>>> mark = Astronaut('Mark', 'Watney')

To print attributes directly:

>>> print(mark.firstname)
Mark
>>>
>>> print(mark.lastname)
Watney

To list all the attributes once again we can use vars():

>>> vars(mark)
{'firstname': 'Mark', 'lastname': 'Watney'}

3.3.4. Protected Attribute¶

_name - protected attribute (non-public by convention)

>>> @dataclass
... class Astronaut:
...     _firstname: str
...     _lastname: str
>>>
>>>
>>> mark = Astronaut('Mark', 'Watney')

Python will allow the following statement, however your IDE should warn you "Access to a protected member _firstname of a class":

>>> print(mark._firstname)
Mark
>>>
>>> print(mark._lastname)
Watney

To list all the attributes once again we can use vars():

>>> vars(mark)
{'_firstname': 'Mark', '_lastname': 'Watney'}

3.3.5. Private Attribute¶

__name - private attribute (name mangling)

>>> @dataclass
... class Astronaut:
...     __firstname: str
...     __lastname: str
>>>
>>>
>>> mark = Astronaut('Mark', 'Watney')

There are no attributes with names __firstname and __lastname:

>>> print(mark.__firstname)
Traceback (most recent call last):
AttributeError: 'Astronaut' object has no attribute '__firstname'
>>>
>>> print(mark.__lastname)
Traceback (most recent call last):
AttributeError: 'Astronaut' object has no attribute '__lastname'

To print attributes directly:

>>> print(mark._Astronaut__firstname)
Mark
>>>
>>> print(mark._Astronaut__lastname)
Watney

To list all the attributes once again we can use vars():

>>> vars(mark)  
{'_Astronaut__firstname': 'Mark',
 '_Astronaut__lastname': 'Watney'}

3.3.6. Name Mangling¶

Name mangling is a mechanism which adds the class name to the field name. It is particularly useful when we have an inheritance and the child class is overwriting parent field, which we eventually want to get:

>>> class FormalEnglish:
...     __greeting: str = 'Good Morning'
...     __farewell: str = 'Goodbye'
...     greeting = __greeting
...     farewell = __farewell
>>>
>>>
>>> class SlangEnglish(FormalEnglish):
...     __greeting: str = 'Wassup'
...     __farewell: str = 'Cya'
...     greeting = __greeting
...     farewell = __farewell
>>>
>>>
>>> lang = SlangEnglish()

As expected, when accessing field we will get the latest value. The previous value was overwritten by inheritance.

>>> lang.greeting
'Wassup'
>>>
>>> lang.farewell
'Cya'

However thanks to the name mangling we have an additional access to both FormalEnglish and SlangEnglish fields:

>>> lang._FormalEnglish__greeting
'Good Morning'
>>>
>>> lang._FormalEnglish__farewell
'Goodbye'
>>>
>>> lang._SlangEnglish__greeting
'Wassup'
>>>
>>> lang._SlangEnglish__farewell
'Cya'

Name mangling works for both class variables and instance variables.

3.3.7. Name Collision¶

Example colliding names: type_, id_, hash_

>>> type_ = type('myobject')
>>> id_ = id('myobject')
>>> hash_ = hash('myobject')

Example:

>>> class User:
...     def __init__(self, firstname, lastname):
...         self.firstname = firstname
...         self.lastname = lastname
...         self.type_ = type(self)
...         self.id_ = id(self)
...         self.hash_ = hash(self)

3.3.8. System Attributes¶

__name__ - Current module
obj.__class__ - Class from which object was instantiated
obj.__dict__ - Stores instance variables
obj.__doc__ - Object docstring
obj.__annotations__ - Object attributes type annotations
obj.__module__ - Name of a module in which object was defined

>>> @dataclass
... class Astronaut:
...     firstname: str
...     lastname: str
>>>
>>>
>>> mark = Astronaut('Mark', 'Watney')

>>> mark.__class__
<class '__main__.Astronaut'>
>>>
>>> mark.__dict__
{'firstname': 'Mark', 'lastname': 'Watney'}
>>>
>>> mark.__doc__
'Astronaut(firstname: str, lastname: str)'
>>>
>>> mark.__annotations__
{'firstname': <class 'str'>, 'lastname': <class 'str'>}
>>>
>>> mark.__module__
'__main__'

3.3.9. Show Attributes¶

vars() display obj.__dict__

>>> class Astronaut:
...     def __init__(self):
...         self.firstname = 'Mark'
...         self.lastname = 'Watney'
...         self._salary = 10_000
...         self._address = '2101 E NASA Pkwy, Houston 77058, Texas, USA'
...         self.__username = 'mwatney'
...         self.__password = 'ares3'
...         self.id_ = 1337
...         self.type_ = 'astronaut'
...         self.__doc__ = 'Class representing an Astronaut'
...         self.__module__ = '__main__'
...         self.__version__ = '1.0.0'
...         self.__author__ = 'Mark Watney <mwatney@nasa.gov>'
>>>
>>>
>>> mark = Astronaut()

All attributes:

>>> vars(mark)  
{'firstname': 'Mark',
 'lastname': 'Watney',
 '_salary': 10000,
 '_address': '2101 E NASA Pkwy, Houston 77058, Texas, USA',
 '_Astronaut__username': 'mwatney',
 '_Astronaut__password': 'ares3',
 'id_': 1337,
 'type_': 'astronaut',
 '__doc__': 'Class representing an Astronaut',
 '__module__': '__main__',
 '__version__': '1.0.0',
 '__author__': 'Mark Watney <mwatney@nasa.gov>'}

Public attributes:

>>> def get_public_attributes(obj):
...     return {attrname: attrvalue
...             for attrname in dir(obj)
...             if (attrvalue := getattr(mark, attrname))
...             and not callable(attrvalue)
...             and not attrname.startswith('_')}
>>>
>>>
>>> get_public_attributes(mark)
{'firstname': 'Mark', 'id_': 1337, 'lastname': 'Watney', 'type_': 'astronaut'}

Protected attributes:

>>> def get_protected_attributes(obj):
...     return {attrname: attrvalue
...             for attrname in dir(obj)
...             if (attrvalue := getattr(obj, attrname))
...             and not callable(attrvalue)
...             and attrname.startswith('_')
...             and not attrname.startswith(f'_{obj.__class__.__name__}_')
...             and not attrname.endswith('_')}
>>>
>>>
>>> get_protected_attributes(mark)
{'_address': '2101 E NASA Pkwy, Houston 77058, Texas, USA', '_salary': 10000}

Private attributes:

>>> def get_private_attributes(obj):
...     return {attrname: attrvalue
...             for attrname in dir(obj)
...             if (attrvalue := getattr(obj, attrname))
...             and not callable(attrvalue)
...             and attrname.startswith(f'_{obj.__class__.__name__}_')}
>>>
>>>
>>> get_private_attributes(mark)
{'_Astronaut__password': 'ares3', '_Astronaut__username': 'mwatney'}

System attributes:

>>> def get_system_attributes(obj):
...     return {attrname: attrvalue
...             for attrname in dir(obj)
...             if (attrvalue := getattr(obj, attrname))
...             and not callable(attrvalue)
...             and attrname.startswith('__')
...             and attrname.endswith('__')}
>>>
>>>
>>> get_system_attributes(mark)  
{'__author__': 'Mark Watney <mwatney@nasa.gov>',
 '__dict__': {...},
 '__doc__': 'Class representing an Astronaut',
 '__module__': '__main__',
 '__version__': '1.0.0'}

3.3.10. References¶

3.3.11. Assignments¶

Code 3.59. Solution¶

"""
* Assignment: OOP AttributeAccessModifiers Dataclass
* Complexity: easy
* Lines of code: 5 lines
* Time: 3 min

English:
    1. Modify dataclass `User` to add attributes:
        a. Public: `firstname`, `lastname`
        b. Protected: `email`, `phone`
        c. Private: `username`, `password`
    2. Run doctests - all must succeed

Polish:
    1. Zmodyfikuj dataclass `User` aby dodać atrybuty:
        a. Publiczne: `firstname`, `lastname`
        b. Chronione: `email`, `phone`
        c. Prywatne: `username`, `password`
    2. Uruchom doctesty - wszystkie muszą się powieść

Tests:
    >>> import sys; sys.tracebacklimit = 0
    >>> from inspect import isclass

    >>> assert isclass(User)
    >>> assert hasattr(User, '__annotations__')

    >>> assert 'firstname' in User.__dataclass_fields__
    >>> assert 'lastname' in User.__dataclass_fields__
    >>> assert '_phone' in User.__dataclass_fields__
    >>> assert '_email' in User.__dataclass_fields__
    >>> assert '_User__username' in User.__dataclass_fields__
    >>> assert '_User__password' in User.__dataclass_fields__
"""
from dataclasses import dataclass


# Public attributes: `firstname`, `lastname`
# Protected attributes: `email`, `phone`
# Private attributes: `username`, `password`
# type: type[User]
@dataclass
class User:
    pass

Code 3.60. Solution¶

"""
* Assignment: OOP AttributeAccessModifiers Init
* Complexity: easy
* Lines of code: 6 lines
* Time: 5 min

English:
    1. Modify dataclass `User` to add attributes:
        a. Public: `firstname`, `lastname`
        b. Protected: `email`, `phone`
        c. Private: `username`, `password`
    2. Do not use `dataclass`
    3. Run doctests - all must succeed

Polish:
    1. Zmodyfikuj dataclass `User` aby dodać atrybuty:
        a. Publiczne: `firstname`, `lastname`
        b. Chronione: `email`, `phone`
        c. Prywatne: `username`, `password`
    2. Nie używaj `dataclass`
    3. Uruchom doctesty - wszystkie muszą się powieść

Tests:
    >>> import sys; sys.tracebacklimit = 0
    >>> from inspect import isclass

    >>> assert isclass(User)

    >>> result = User(
    ...     firstname='Mark',
    ...     lastname='Watney',
    ...     email='mwatney@nasa.gov',
    ...     phone='+1 (234) 555 1337',
    ...     username='mwatney',
    ...     password='Ares3',
    ... )

    >>> assert hasattr(result, 'firstname')
    >>> assert hasattr(result, 'lastname')
    >>> assert hasattr(result, '_email')
    >>> assert hasattr(result, '_phone')
    >>> assert hasattr(result, '_User__username')
    >>> assert hasattr(result, '_User__password')
"""

# Public attributes: `firstname`, `lastname`
# Protected attributes: `email`, `phone`
# Private attributes: `username`, `password`
# type: type[User]
class User:
    pass

Code 3.61. Solution¶

"""
* Assignment: OOP AttributeAccessModifiers Members
* Complexity: easy
* Lines of code: 3 lines
* Time: 8 min

English:
    1. Extract from class `User` attribute names and their values:
        a. Define `protected: dict` with protected attributes
        b. Define `private: dict` with private attributes
        c. Define `public: dict` with public attributes
    2. Run doctests - all must succeed

Polish:
    1. Wydobądź z klasy `User` nazwy atrybutów i ich wartości:
        a. Zdefiniuj `protected: dict` z atrybutami chronionymi (protected)
        b. Zdefiniuj `private: dict` z atrybutami prywatnymi (private)
        c. Zdefiniuj `public: dict` z atrybutami publicznymi (public)
    2. Uruchom doctesty - wszystkie muszą się powieść

Tests:
    >>> import sys; sys.tracebacklimit = 0

    >>> assert type(public) is dict
    >>> assert all(type(k) is str for k,v in public.items())
    >>> assert all(type(v) is str for k,v in public.items())

    >>> assert type(protected) is dict
    >>> assert all(type(k) is str for k,v in protected.items())
    >>> assert all(type(v) is str for k,v in protected.items())

    >>> assert type(private) is dict
    >>> assert all(type(k) is str for k,v in private.items())
    >>> assert all(type(v) is str for k,v in private.items())

    >>> assert len(public) > 0, \
    'public: list[dict] must not be empty'

    >>> assert len(protected) > 0, \
    'protected: list[dict] must not be empty'

    >>> assert len(private) > 0, \
    'private: list[dict] must not be empty'

    >>> public
    {'firstname': 'Mark', 'lastname': 'Watney'}

    >>> protected
    {'_email': 'mwatney@nasa.gov', '_phone': '+1 (234) 555 1337'}

    >>> private
    {'_User__username': 'mwatney', '_User__password': 'Ares3'}

"""
from dataclasses import dataclass


@dataclass
class User:
    def __init__(self, firstname, lastname, email, phone, username, password):
        self.firstname = firstname
        self.lastname = lastname
        self._email = email
        self._phone = phone
        self.__username = username
        self.__password = password


DATA = User(
    firstname='Mark',
    lastname='Watney',
    email='mwatney@nasa.gov',
    phone='+1 (234) 555 1337',
    username='mwatney',
    password='Ares3',
)

# All public attributes and their values
# type: dict[str,float|str]
public = ...

# All protected attributes and their values
# type: dict[str,float|str]
protected = ...

# All private attributes and their values
# type: dict[str,str]
private = ...