Does Python have “private” variables in classes?

user_44286 0
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I'm coming from the Java world and reading Bruce Eckels' Python 3 Patterns, Recipes and Idioms.

While reading about classes, it goes on to say that in Python there is no need to declare instance variables. You just use them in the constructor, and boom, they are there.

So for example:

class Simple:
    def __init__(self, s):
        print("inside the simple constructor")
        self.s = s

    def show(self):
        print(self.s)

    def showMsg(self, msg):
        print(msg + ':', self.show())

If that’s true, then any object of class Simple can just change the value of variable s outside of the class.

For example: 

if __name__ == "__main__":
    x = Simple("constructor argument")
    x.s = "test15" # this changes the value
    x.show()
    x.showMsg("A message")

In Java, we have been taught about public/private/protected variables. Those keywords make sense because at times you want variables in a class to which no one outside the class has access to.

Why is that not required in Python?

private class python
14 Answers

Python does not have any private variables like C++ or Java does. You could access any member variable at any time if wanted, too. However, you don't need private variables in Python, because in Python it is not bad to expose your classes member variables. If you have the need to encapsulate a member variable, you can do this by using "@property" later on without breaking existing client code.

In python the single underscore "_" is used to indicate, that a method or variable is not considered as part of the public api of a class and that this part of the api could change between different versions. You can use these methods/variables, but your code could break, if you use a newer version of this class.

The double underscore "__" does not mean a "private variable". You use it to define variables which are "class local" and which can not be easily overidden by subclasses. It mangles the variables name.

For example:

class A(object):
    def __init__(self):
        self.__foobar = None # will be automatically mangled to self._A__foobar

class B(A):
    def __init__(self):
        self.__foobar = 1 # will be automatically mangled to self._B__foobar

self.__foobar's name is automatically mangled to self._A__foobar in class A. In class B it is mangled to self._B__foobar. So every subclass can define its own variable __foobar without overriding its parents variable(s). But nothing prevents you from accessing variables beginning with double underscores. However, name-mangling prevents you from calling this variables /methods incidentally.

I strongly recommend you watch Raymond Hettinger's Python's class development toolkit from Pycon 2013, which gives a good example why and how you should use @property and "__"-instance variables.

If you have exposed public variables and you have the need to encapsulate them, then you can use @property. Therefore you can start with the simplest solution possible. You can leave member variables public unless you have a concrete reason to not do so. Here is an example:

class Distance:
    def __init__(self, meter):
        self.meter = meter


d = Distance(1.0)
print(d.meter)
# prints 1.0

class Distance:
    def __init__(self, meter):
        # Customer request: Distances must be stored in millimeters.
        # Public available internals must be changed.
        # This would break client code in C++.
        # This is why you never expose public variables in C++ or Java.
        # However, this is python.
        self.millimeter = meter * 1000

    # In python we have @property to the rescue.
    @property
    def meter(self):
        return self.millimeter *0.001

    @meter.setter
    def meter(self, value):
        self.millimeter = value * 1000

d = Distance(1.0)
print(d.meter)
# prints 1.0
user_74830730

About sources (to change the access rights and thus bypass language encapsulation like java or C ++): You don't always have the sources and EVEN if you do, the sources are managed by a system that only allows certain programmers to access a source (in a professional context). Often, every programmer is responsible for certain classes and therefore knows what he can and cannot do. The source manager also locks the sources being modified and of course, manages the access rights of programmers.

So i trust more in software than in human, by experience. So convention is good but MULTIPLE protections are better, like access management (real private variable) + sources management.

user_99289590

So I’m new to Python but I have a background in C# and JavaScript. Python feels like a mix of the two in terms of features. JavaScript also struggles in this area and the way around it here, is to create a closure. This prevents access to data you don’t want to expose by returning a different object.

def print_msg(msg):
    # This is the outer enclosing function

    def printer():
        # This is the nested function
        print(msg)

    return printer  # returns the nested function


# Now let's try calling this function.
# Output: Hello
another = print_msg("Hello")
another()

https://www.programiz.com/python-programming/closure

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Closures#emulating_private_methods_with_closures

user_69083440

Here's how I handle Python3 class fields:

Class MyClass:
    def __init__(self, public_read_variable, private_variable):
        self.public_read_variable_ = public_read_variable
        self.__private_variable = private_variable

I access the __private_variable with two underscores only inside MyClass methods.

I do read access of the public_read_variable_ with one underscore outside the class, but never modify the variable:

my_class = MyClass("public", "private")
print(my_class.public_read_variable_) # OK
my_class.public_read_variable_ = 'another value' # NOT OK, don't do that.
user_49298090
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