CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonpython-2.7
Andrew Youdin
Andrew Youdin

Reputation: 83

function attributes

I want to use function attributes to set variable values as an alternate to using global variables. But sometimes I assign another short name to a function. The behavior seems to always do what I want, i.e. the value gets assigned to the function whether I use the long or short name, as shown below. Is there any danger in this?

def flongname():
    pass

f = flongname
f.f1 = 10
flongname.f2 = 20
print flongname.f1, f.f2

And the last line returns 10 20 showing that the different function names refer to the same function object. Right?

Upvotes: 3

Views: 124

Answers (2)

avasal
avasal

Reputation: 14854

f = flongname  # <- Now f has same id as flongname
f.f1 = 10 # <- a new entry is added to flongname.__dict__
flongname.f2 = 20 # <- a new entry is added to flongname.__dict__
print flongname.f1, f.f2 # Both are refering to same dictionary of the function

looking it as it is is doesn't seems dangerous, just remember nobody else is modifying its dict

In [40]: f.__dict__
Out[40]: {}

In [41]: flongname.__dict__
Out[41]: {}

In [42]: f.f1=10

In [43]: flongname.__dict__
Out[43]: {'f1': 10}

In [44]: f.__dict__
Out[44]: {'f1': 10}

In [45]: flongname.f2 = 20

In [46]: f.__dict__
Out[46]: {'f1': 10, 'f2': 20}

Upvotes: 3

tMC
tMC

Reputation: 19325

id shows that the both f and flongname are references to the same object.

>>> def flongname():
...     pass
... 
>>> f = flongname
>>> id(f)
140419547609160
>>> id(flongname)
140419547609160
>>>

so yes- the behavior you're experiencing is expected.

Upvotes: 5

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