Question

What do you mean by name mangling? Support your answer with a relevant example.

Answer 1

Name mangling is Python's limited mechanism for hiding class attributes. An attribute beginning with two underscores and not ending with two underscores is internally renamed by prefixing it with _ClassName.

class Test:
    def __init__(self):
        self.__marks = 95  # Name-mangled attribute

    def display(self):
        print(self.__marks)


t1 = Test()
t1.display()
print(t1._Test__marks)  # Access using mangled name
95
95

Here, __marks is internally stored as _Test__marks. Name mangling discourages direct access; it does not provide absolute privacy.