So that it'll be easier to remember the next time I find myself in the same situation on a different task, I'll extend the discussion somewhat.
Coming from C, I had expected that I'd get a new empty dict every time the __init__ function ran. Guido (or some other benevolent) had decided to implement things a little bit differently in Python. I understand that most everything is a pointer in Python. (which gives us cool stuff like recursive data structures) So I was wondering, they could have made the behavior C-like, but chose not to. The decision to bind everything in the function to the same default args must be a reflection of the Python Ideology. Philosophically, why was it done this way, and how does it fit in with Python's design as a language. (hopefully, reasons will help me remeber why things are the way they are, so I don't forget in the future) ----------------- I've only been using Python for a few weeks. (Chose it over Perl, because Python syntax is cleaner). I really like Python (over C), as it makes coding and debugging much faster and easier. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
