* Russ P. (Tue, 3 Feb 2009 21:04:30 -0800 (PST)) > Imagine you own a company, and you decide to lease an office building. > Would you expect the office doors to have locks on them? Oh, you > would? Why? You mean you don't "trust" your co-workers? What are locks > but enforced access restriction? > > What people like you are saying is that you don't need no stinkin' > locks because your co-workers are all "consenting adults" whom you > trust. Actually, you're saying even more than that. You're saying that > office doors never need locks, because everyone should trust their co- > workers. All you need is a "keep-out" sign on the door (leading > underscores). And you are presenting as evidence for your position the > fact that people occasionally get locked out of an office that they > need to get into. > > I'm saying, fine, if you trust your co-workers, then keep the doors > unlocked, but please don't insist that office doors come without > locks. Yes, locks occasionally cause inconvenience, but they serve a > very useful purpose if used properly.
This analogy is not adequate. If someone uses your library then it is his office and nothing can stop him. Someone else gave a better analogy with a device that says that the warranty is lost if you open it. And that's exactly the same with the underscore convention. Thorsten -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list