Use `__dict__` or `vars()`?
Question:
Builtin function vars() looks more Pythonic to me, but I see __dict__ used more frequently.
The Python documentation indicates that they are equivalent.
One blogger claims that __dict__ is faster than vars().
Which shall I use?
Answers:
Generally, you should consider dunder/magic methods to be the implementation and invoking functions/methods as the API, so it would be preferable to use vars() over __dict__, in the same way that you would do len(a_list) and not a_list.__len__(), or a_dict["key"] rather than a_dict.__getitem__('key')
I’d use vars().
From: https://wiki.python.org/moin/DubiousPython#Premature_Optimization
While a correctly applied optimization can indeed speed up code, optimizing code that is only seldom use [..] can make code harder to read. [..] Write correct code first, then make it fast (if necessary).
From: The Zen of Python
Readability counts.
I agree vars should be preferred. My rationale is that, as python evolves, vars might be extended to do more than __dict__ does (for example, work for objects with slots, possibly in 3.7).
Builtin function vars() looks more Pythonic to me, but I see __dict__ used more frequently.
The Python documentation indicates that they are equivalent.
One blogger claims that __dict__ is faster than vars().
Which shall I use?
Generally, you should consider dunder/magic methods to be the implementation and invoking functions/methods as the API, so it would be preferable to use vars() over __dict__, in the same way that you would do len(a_list) and not a_list.__len__(), or a_dict["key"] rather than a_dict.__getitem__('key')
I’d use vars().
From: https://wiki.python.org/moin/DubiousPython#Premature_Optimization
While a correctly applied optimization can indeed speed up code, optimizing code that is only seldom use [..] can make code harder to read. [..] Write correct code first, then make it fast (if necessary).
From: The Zen of Python
Readability counts.
I agree vars should be preferred. My rationale is that, as python evolves, vars might be extended to do more than __dict__ does (for example, work for objects with slots, possibly in 3.7).