[clug] Somedays you use more force than is necessary...

[Carlo Hamalainen]

On 29/04/14 07:58, Hugh Fisher wrote:
> The first hit from typing 'immutable python object' into Google was a
> StackOverflow thread about how to create just such a thing. Didn't
> even require a C implementation, just a bit of metaprogramming with
> the object internals.
>
> <http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4828080/how-to-make-an-immutable-object-in-python>
>

It seems that read-only fields are not enough:

http://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?ref=rss&id=2611829

The Curse of the Excluded Middle
by Erik Meijer | April 26, 2014


    Bad as this is, surely it is enough just to abolish state mutation
    to make the code pure. No! Unfortunately, it is not enough simply to
    make all fields in a class readonly and disallow assignments to
    local variables in order to tame the state monster. The C? program
    here shows that threads can easily simulate state, even though there
    are no assignments or mutable variables anywhere to be seen in the code.

    ....

    These examples are just the tip of the iceberg. The fundamental
    problem with side effects is that there are many uncontrollable ways
    to observe them, and even worse, it is often possible to simulate
    one effect with another. Adding recursion to pure combinatorial
    circuits makes it possible to build flip-flops that provide mutable
    state. You can prove that state and delimited continuations suffice
    to simulate any effect,2 and that unchecked exceptions can simulate
    continuations.4 You cannot be careful enough in dealing with effects.


Enjoy :)

-- 
Carlo Hamalainen
http://carlo-hamalainen.net