[sugar] Python coding conventions

[Ian Bicking]

Marco Pesenti Gritti wrote:
> I tried to use lower case names for modules and it works better. Unless 
> Dan disagree I think we should go with this style for modules. Ian, it 
> would be great if you could come up with a simple code style document.

PEP 8 goes over most all of these things: 
http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0008/

Module names and tabs were the only things I noticed that didn't conform 
with PEP 8.  Well, the use of getter functions vs properties is an 
outstanding issue.  There's lots of getter/setter functions in the 
current codebase.  For a simple getter you can do:

class PresenceService(gobject.GObject):
         @property
         def services(self):
                 resp = self._ps.getServices()
                 servs = []
                 for item in resp:
                         servs.append(self._new_object(item))
                 return servs

And then you'll get a read-only property of the services.  One possible 
confusion with using properties is that it won't be clear when an 
attribute is more likely to fail or stall (which could happen anytime 
you access another process over dbus), and it won't be clear when the 
return value is mutable.  In this case the value is mutable, but to no 
effect -- the list is merely constructed anew each time.  Using a method 
or a property here is just a hint at what it is and how it works, but in 
this case a method might be the best hint.


-- 
Ian Bicking | ianb at colorstudy.com | http://blog.ianbicking.org