Attributes Vs Properties

class Person():
    def __init__(self):
        self._name = "test"
 
    @property
    def name(self):
        return self._name
 
    @name.setter
    def name(self, value):
        self._name = value

Given the above class, attributes are stored in a dictionary __dict__.

a = Person()
 
# both gives the same result.
 
a._name # "test"
a.name # "test"
 
# However, "name" as an attribute is not present in __dict__
 
print(a.__dict__)
{'_name': 'test'}

We can set attribute by changing the a.__dict__ elements.

a.__dict__['_name'] = "some-name"
 
a._name # "some-name"
a.name # "some-name"

Python distinguishes between properties and attributes by their implementation.

References

1. https://www.pythonmorsels.com/python-setattr/