On Mar 27, 2010, at 8:04 AM, J. Clifford Dyer wrote:
On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 02:49:02PM +0000, kj wrote regarding Classes
as namespaces?:
What's the word on using "classes as namespaces"? E.g.
class _cfg(object):
spam = 1
jambon = 3
huevos = 2
breakfast = (_cfg.spam, _cfg.jambon, _cfg.huevos)
Granted, this is not the "intended use" for classes, and therefore
could be viewed as a misuse ("that's what dictionaries are for",
etc.). But other than this somewhat academic objection[*], I really
can see no problem with using classes in this way.
And yet, I've come across online murky warnings against using
classes as "pseudo-namespaces". Is there some problem that I'm
not seeing with this technique?
~K
I don't see anything wrong with this, except that I would clean it
up in a couple ways. Like other posters, I would give the class a
proper class name (Cfg).
I also would not assign integers to spam, jambon, or huevos.
Instead I would assign each a bare object(). That way you won't get
unexpected interactions with other constants outside the class. An
object() is equal only to itself.
What I like about this method is that it will break the bad habit I
see in junior programmers of making assumptions about the value of the
constant. For instance, if they see that Cfg.JAMBON = 3 and hardcode 3
in their code somewhere, that will work fine until someone re-orders
the constants. Using object() instead forces them to use Cfg.JAMBON
since the value will (probably) change with every run of the program.
It will also discourage bugs-waiting-to-happen like this:
if breakfast > Cfg.SPAM:
print "Good news, breakfast is jambon or huevos"
bye
P
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