On 9/23/05, Fredrik Lundh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Collin Winter wrote: > > > As it currently stands, the type of the global __builtins__ differs > > depending on whether you're in the __main__ namespace (__builtins__ is > > a module) or not (its a dict). I was recently tripped up by this > > discrepancy, and googling the issue brings up half-a-dozen or so c.l.p > > threads where others have been bitten by this, too. > > __builtins__ is a CPython implementation detail. why not just let it > be an implementation detail, and refrain from using it? it's not that > hard, really.
Given, but I fail to see why it can't be a consistent implementation detail. After my own encounter with __builtins__, I now know that I should use __builtin__ instead. However, the docs never mention this. The only way you'd know that __builtin__ is preferred is by searching the list archives, something you're not likely to do unless you're already having a problem. If it's decided to leave things they way they are, at the very least the docs should be amended to indicate that users shouldn't be touching __builtins__. If anyone has a suggestion as to where this kind of thing might best fit (tutorial, library reference, language reference?), I'd be happy to write a patch for the docs. Collin Winter -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
