Name mangling in Python - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Understanding Name Mangling in Python

📖 Scenario: Imagine you are creating a simple class to store information about a secret agent. You want to keep the agent's real identity hidden inside the class so it cannot be accessed directly from outside.

🎯 Goal: You will create a class with a private attribute using name mangling, then access it safely through a method.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a class called Agent with a private attribute

Use name mangling by prefixing the attribute name with double underscores

Add a method to return the private attribute value

Create an instance of the class and print the secret identity using the method

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Name mangling helps protect sensitive data inside classes, like passwords or secret information, so it is not easily accessed or changed from outside.

💼 Career

Understanding name mangling is important for writing secure and well-encapsulated Python code, a key skill for software developers and engineers.

1

Create the Agent class with a private attribute

Create a class called Agent with a private attribute named __real_name set to the string 'James Bond' inside the __init__ method.

Python

class Agent:
    def __init__(self):
        # Your code here

Need a hint?

Use self.__real_name = 'James Bond' inside the __init__ method to create the private attribute.

2

Add a method to access the private attribute

Inside the Agent class, add a method called get_real_name that returns the value of the private attribute __real_name.

Python

class Agent:
    def __init__(self):
        self.__real_name = 'James Bond'

    # Your code here

Need a hint?

Define a method get_real_name that returns self.__real_name.

3

Create an instance of Agent

Create a variable called agent and assign it to a new instance of the Agent class.

Python

class Agent:
    def __init__(self):
        self.__real_name = 'James Bond'

    def get_real_name(self):
        return self.__real_name

# Your code here

Need a hint?

Create an instance by writing agent = Agent().

4

Print the secret identity using the method

Use print to display the secret identity by calling the get_real_name method on the agent object.

Python

class Agent:
    def __init__(self):
        self.__real_name = 'James Bond'

    def get_real_name(self):
        return self.__real_name

agent = Agent()

# Your code here

Need a hint?

Call agent.get_real_name() inside print() to show the secret name.