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Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2011 12:47:40 -0400
Subject: Re: Namespaces in functions vs classes
From: Gerald Britton <gerald.britton@gmail.com>
To: Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us>, "python-list (General)" <python-list@python.org>
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Xref: x330-a1.tempe.blueboxinc.net comp.lang.python:3571

>Gerald Britton wrote:
>> I now understand the Python does
>> not consider a class definition as a separate namespace as it does for
>> function definitions.  That is a helpful understanding.

>That is not correct.  Classes are separate namespaces -- they just
>aren't automatically searched.  The only namespaces that are
>automatically searched are local, non-local, global, and built-in.

I see you misunderstood my observation:  Python does not consider a class
definition as a separate namespace *as it does* for function definitions.

Of course classes are separate namespaces, or they would not work at
all.  However,
Python does not automatically search class namespaces -- even within the class
definition -- *as it does* within function definitions.

That is the key insight I was seeking.  To search a class namespace one must
qualify the lookup with the class or instance name.