I have come from c++ and java background so, I was curious to know if python provides access specifiers as provided by c++/java. I've seen some code, and this is what I think, __variable ---> private. _variable ----> protected. Correct me if I'm wrong.
2 Answers
Python has recommended practices rather than prescriptive ones - so anything with a _ at the start should be left alone by others but is not locked to prevent it. There is however name mangling to make life more interesting for members with a __ at the start - see PEP8.
Of course if others rely on your private data/methods rather then the public API they only have themselves to blame when you change something and their code stops working.
Comments
There is no such concept in Python. There are conventions that are used - like the ones Steve mentioned but also others such as calling the first variable of an instance method self.
In addition, for module level imports - there is a way to prevent the default behavior of importing all names from a module. This is done by populating __all__ with a list of names that should be imported (exposed) by default.
However, as with __var and _var it is just a convention (although one that is enforced by Python). It doesn't restrict you though - you can explicitly import any name.
