Python attributes, __slots__, and API design

A discussion on the python-ideas mailing list touched on a number of interesting topics, from the problems with misspelled attribute names through the design of security-sensitive interfaces and to the use of the __slots__ attribute of objects. The latter may not be all that well-known (or well-documented), but could potentially fix the problem at hand, though not in a backward-compatible way. The conversation revolves around the ssl module in the standard library, which has been targeted for upgrades, more than once, over the years—with luck, the maintainers may find time for some upgrades relatively soon.

Full Story (comments: 14)