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[Python-ideas] list of reserved identifiers in program?

Mark Hackett mark.hackett at metoffice.gov.uk
Fri Oct 26 11:58:51 CEST 2012 
On Friday 26 Oct 2012, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
> On 26/10/12 20:22, Daniel Fetchinson wrote:
> > Hi folks,
> >
> > Would it be a good idea to have a built-in list of strings containing
> > the reserved identifiers of python such as 'assert', 'import', etc?
> >
> > The reason I think this would be useful is that whenever I write a
> > class with user defined methods I always have to exclude the reserved
> > keywords. So for instance myinstance.mymethod( ) is okay but
> > myinstance.assert( ) is not. In these cases I use the convention
> > myinstance._assert( ), etc.
> 
> The usual convention is that leading underscores are private, and
> trailing underscores are used to avoid name clashes with reserved words.
> 
> So myinstance.assert_ rather than myinstance._assert, which would be
> considered "private, do not use".
> 

One story I heard about development was a site that had included as an early 
C++ header had

#define private public

If users REALLY want to use a function you though was private, they will.

Convention works just as well without having people go to extreme lengths to 
avoid it (where their use case makes it beneficial).
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