title: OOP: getter/setter methods
body: <p>So I've read that you're supposed to access object attributes through getter/setter methods like <code>object.get_this()</code> or <code>object.set_that(value)</code>. Does this code hold for methods that are also defined within the class? Or they are only meant to be used with object instances. For instance, is it idiomatic to do it this way,</p>
  
  <pre><code>class test:
      def __init__(self,value):
          self.value = value
      def get_value(self):
          return self.value
      def method(self):
          return some_operation(self.value)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>with <code>get_value()</code> defined for accessing <code>value</code> for an object instance, or should <code>get_value()</code> also be used within class methods?</p>
  
  <pre><code>class test:
      def __init__(self,value):
          self.value = value
      def get_value(self):
          return self.value
      def method(self):
          return some_operation(self.get_value())
  </code></pre>