Accessor and Mutator in Python
Since it's a good idea to keep internal data of an object private , we often need methods in the class interface to allow the user of objects to modify or access the internally stored data, in a controlled way. A method defined within a class can either be an Accessor or a Mutator method. An accessor method is a function that returns a copy of an internal variable or computed value. A common practice is to name these with the word get. A mutator method is a function that modifies the value of an internal data variable in some way. The simplest form of mutator function is one that sets a variable directly to a new value. A common practice is to name these with the word set. example
class MyClass():
def __init__(self):
self.__my_attr = 3
def set_my_attr(self,val):
self.__my_attr = val
def get_my_attr(self):
return self.__my_attr
obj1 = MyClass()
print (obj1.get_my_attr())
obj1.set_my_attr(7)
print (obj1.get_my_attr())
In the example above,
The methods obj1.get_my_attr() is Accessor methods since it doesn’t alter the object a in any sense, but only pulls the relevant information. But obj1.set_my_attr(7) is a mutator method, since it effectively changes the object to a new one.
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