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Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 15:11:29 +0100
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Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.python:75741

On 2014-08-05 14:19, Marko Rauhamaa wrote:
> Skip Montanaro <skip@pobox.com>:
>
>> On Tue, Aug 5, 2014 at 7:04 AM, Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> wrote:
>>> I wonder if that should be built into dict.
>>
>> Short answer, no. I'm sure it's been proposed before. Attributes ≠
>> keys. When you see something.somethingelse anywhere else in Python,
>> "somethingelse" is an attribute reference. When you see
>> something[somethingelse], "somethingelse" is an index value or key.
>> Why destroy that symmetry in dictionaries?
>
> I'm not sure I fully appreciate the dichotomy (which you euphemistically
> refer to as symmetry).
>
>> JavaScript objects have that feature. I find it mildly confusing
>> because whenever I see it I have to pause to consider whether the name
>> I am looking at is an attribute or a key.
>
> What's the inherent difference between an attribute and a key.
>
An attribute is part of a container; a key is part of its contents.