Learn Web Development with Python

Private methods and name mangling

If you have any background with languages like Java, C#, or C++, then you know they allow the programmer to assign a privacy status to attributes (both data and methods). Each language has its own slightly different flavor for this, but the gist is that public attributes are accessible from any point in the code, while private ones are accessible only within the scope they are defined in.

In Python, there is no such thing. Everything is public; therefore, we rely on conventions and on a mechanism called name mangling.

The convention is as follows: if an attribute's name has no leading underscores, it is considered public. This means you can access it and modify it freely. When the name has one leading underscore, ...