Re: init is the initialiser

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Date	Sat, 01 Feb 2014 01:41:26 +0000
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Subject	Re: __init__ is the initialiser
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On 2014-02-01 01:10, Roy Smith wrote:
> In article <mailman.6233.1391214984.18130.python-list@python.org>,
>   Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> wrote:
>
>> I found calling __init__ the constructor very confusing.
>
> I've heard many people say this, and it's always sort of befuddled me.
>
> In C++, a constructor is really an initializer too.  By the time C++'s
> Foo::Foo() or Python's Foo.__init__() get called, memory has already
> been allocated, so I would say the object has been constructed.  Yet,
> C++ people are perfectly happy calling this "thing that takes some
> allocated hunk of memory and sets its attributes to useful values" a
> constructor[1], and Python people are not.
>
You could argue that construction is not complete until the instance
has been initialised. In the case of C++, all you have is the
initialiser, so doesn't really matter, but Python has __new__ and
__init__, so it _does_ matter.

> [1] Well, they really call it a ctor, but I chalk that up to the same
> sort of silliness that makes pythonistas pronounce "__" as "dunder" :-)
>

Thread

Re: __init__ is the initialiser Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2014-01-31 16:13 -0800
  Re: __init__ is the initialiser Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-01-31 20:10 -0500
    Re: __init__ is the initialiser MRAB <python@mrabarnett.plus.com> - 2014-02-01 01:41 +0000
      Re: __init__ is the initialiser Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-01-31 20:53 -0500
    Re: __init__ is the initialiser Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2014-01-31 18:35 -0800
    Dunder [was Re: __init__ is the initialiser] Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-02-01 02:52 +0000
      Re: Dunder [was Re: __init__ is the initialiser] MRAB <python@mrabarnett.plus.com> - 2014-02-01 03:04 +0000
      Re: Dunder [was Re: __init__ is the initialiser] Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-02-01 15:05 +1100
        Re: Dunder [was Re: __init__ is the initialiser] Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-02-01 05:53 +0000

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