ES3.1 Object static methods rationale document

[David Flanagan]

Brendan Eich wrote:
> 
> Cool. I'm standing pat on describeProperty.
> 
> /be
> 

[I've removed es3.x-discuss, since I'm not a member]

The verb describe makes this sound like a setter method rather than a 
getter method. That is, describeProperty sounds like a short name for 
setPropertyDescriptor rather than getPropertyDescriptor.

Also, I think there is serious potential for confusion between 
defineProperty and describeProperty.  "Define" and "describe" both begin 
with D and have similar meanings.  Programmers are going to forget which 
method is which.

Brendan, I think you were correct when you originally wrote:

> lookup : define :: get : put.

I think that lookupProperty is much nicer than describeProperty, since 
"lookup" captures the getter nature of the method in a way that 
"describe" does not.

Frankly, though, I imagine that defining properties will be more common 
than reflecting on them, and I don't see anything wrong with a long name 
that explicitly describes the function: getPropertyDescriptor(), 
lookupPropertyAttributes() or whatever.

	David Flanagan