"Nader Alrawahi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote > in Python. We know that methods can be private or public , but is > there a > way we can make them protected in Python, something similar to Java?
No, Python does not support protected. However a common conventionis to use a single underscore before the name to *suggest* that the name should not be directly accessed, rather like protected attributes. However IMHO you are far better off working without the type of data hiding you use in static languages like C++/Java etc. Embrace the Python idioms and stop worrying about such things unless you have a very real reason. (Even then I suggest that using properties is a better solution in most cases). The Python way is to believe that we are all intelligent programmers and trust us. C++ introduced the private/protected/public paranoia into OOP and unfortunately every language since seems to have followed it. But such tricks are rarely needed if the class is designed properly such that the operations do all that is needed. And if they don't then no amount of "protection" will impriove the situation, it just makes the class harder to use/reuse. Even C++ didn't introduce protected till version 2.0... HTH, -- Alan Gauld Author of the Learn to Program web site http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor