单下划线
在类中,带有前导下划线的名称只是向其他程序员指示该属性或方法旨在是私有的。然而,没有什么特别的名称本身。
_single_leading_underscore: weak “internal use” indicator. E.g. from M import * does not import objects whose name starts with an underscore.
双下划线(Name Mangling)
Any identifier of the form __spam (at least two leading underscores, at most one trailing underscore) is textually replaced with _classname__spam, where classname is the current class name with leading underscore(s) stripped. This mangling is done without regard to the syntactic position of the identifier, so it can be used to define class-private instance and class variables, methods, variables stored in globals, and even variables stored in instances. private to this class on instances of other classes.
和来自同一页面的警告:
Name mangling is intended to give classes an easy way to define “private” instance variables and methods, without having to worry about instance variables defined by derived classes, or mucking with instance variables by code outside the class. Note that the mangling rules are designed mostly to avoid accidents; it still is possible for a determined soul to access or modify a variable that is considered private.
例
>>> class MyClass():
... def __init__(self):
... self.__superprivate = "Hello"
... self._semiprivate = ", world!"
...
>>> mc = MyClass()
>>> print mc.__superprivate
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "", line 1, in
AttributeError: myClass instance has no attribute '__superprivate'
>>> print mc._semiprivate
, world!
>>> print mc.__dict__
{'_MyClass__superprivate': 'Hello', '_semiprivate': ', world!'}