DHI / DHI/python-package-development
Add section on inappropriate intimacy between classes
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Description
Classes should interact through public APIs, not by reaching into each other's private attributes.
**Example from MIKE IO plotting refactor:**
Before (inappropriate intimacy):
```python
# Plotter reaches into geometry internals for subsetting
values = values[self.da.geometry.top_elements]
geometry = self.da.geometry.geometry2d
# Plotter uses private attribute to check for time axis
if self.da._has_time_axis:
return self.da.values[0]
```
After (using public API):
```python
# Use sel/isel for subsetting
da = da.sel(layers="top")
geometry = da.geometry
# Use public dims property
da = self.da.isel(time=0) if "time" in self.da.dims else self.da
```
**Key principles:**
- Never access private attributes (prefixed with `_`) of another class
- Use public methods like `sel`, `isel`, and public properties like `dims`
- If you need to access private state, that's a signal the class is missing a public API
- Plotters should plot, not subset — keep data manipulation in the data layer
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