How to make data attributes private in python

Question

I'm new to Python, and I need some help understanding private methods. I'm working on an assignment where I have to output the type of pet it is, its name, and age. I have the program working but I seem to be stuck on how I would go about making the data attributes private. This is my code.

import random class pet : #how the pets attributes will be displayed def __init__(animal, type, name, age): animal.type = type animal.name = name animal.age = age #empty list for adding tricks animal.tricks = [] #number of fleas are random from 0 to 10 fleaCount = random.randint(0,10) def addTrick(animal, trick): animal.tricks.append(trick) def petAge(animal): return animal.age def printInfo(animal): print(f"Pet type : {animal.type} \nPet name : {animal.name}\nPet age : {animal.age}\nPet fleas : {animal.fleaCount}") print("Tricks :") for i in range(len(animal.tricks)): print("",animal.tricks[i]) # main program #dog1 information dog1 = pet("Dog","Max",10) dog1.addTrick("Stay and Bark") dog1.printInfo() #dog2 information dog2 = pet("Dog","Lily",8) dog2.addTrick("Play Dead and Fetch") dog2.printInfo() #cat1 information cat1 = pet("Cat","Mittens",11) cat1.addTrick("Sit and High Five") cat1.printInfo()

Python doesn't generally use private attributes, but you can see this stackoverflow post on how to create @property flags: stackoverflow.com/questions/4555932/… — Mason Caiby
– Mason Caiby, Commented Sep 25, 2019 at 19:50
Why do you think you need to make the attributes private? The assignment doesn't seem to require it. — Daniel Roseman
– Daniel Roseman, Commented Sep 25, 2019 at 21:18
@DanielRoseman The teacher wants us to make the attributes private for the assignment. — user1761498
– user1761498, Commented Sep 25, 2019 at 21:24

MatsLindh · Accepted Answer · 2019-09-25 19:51:41Z

Private properties in an object is defined by prepending it with __, so in your case it would be __age instead of age. The interpreter will then mangle the name (i.e. it would not be accessible directly through __age), but if someone wanted to get access through the mangled name, they could still do it. There is no such thing as a real private property in Python.

Also: the first parameter to an objects method in python should always be named self (and not animal).

When I add __ before my objects the programs runs blank. Why is that happening?

Luis Quiroga · Accepted Answer · 2019-09-25 20:01:39Z

Just use double underscore before the attribute name, for example: "__type", "__age", "__name".

If you want to learn more about public, private and protected: https://www.tutorialsteacher.com/python/private-and-protected-access-modifiers-in-python

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