What does "getattr(self, 'something') is true" mean in Python?

Question

I am new to Python. I could not figure out what "is True" means in this case:

class Answers():
    def get_reference(self):
        return None

    def is_private(self):
        return getattr(self, 'private', False) is True

I understand that getattr() will return the value of "private" or it will return False as the default value. So what does the "is True" mean?

It means that the value of `private` is `True`. Exactly as the syntax says. — Maroun, Dec 28 '14 at 15:33
https://docs.python.org/2.7/reference/expressions.html#not-in — wwii, Dec 28 '14 at 16:20
It means the person who wrote that code doesn't entirely know what they are doing. — chepner, Dec 28 '14 at 16:33
You should create the attribute `private` in the `__init__`-method and don't rely on some getattr-magic. — Daniel, Dec 28 '14 at 18:36

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 28 '14 at 15:33

2

It's checking whether the getattr call returns True.

answered Dec 28 '14 at 15:33

Daniel Roseman

2

To be more precise, it's checking whether the getattr call returns *exactly* `True`, not some other trueish value. I don't see why you would do that, though. It's usually cleaner to convert trueish values to true and falseish values to false, which you can do with `bool()`. – Kevin Dec 28 '14 at 15:58

1 Answers1