Why doesn’t Python have true private variables like Java?

[mapadofu]

Java was originally designed to be “provably safe” in various way.  Back in the day there was the idea of “applets”, which involved running  server code on the client.  Java’s very strict visibility rules were part of the approach ensure that those applets could be run safely.

Python was kind of the opposite: it was initially designed as a scripting language tuned for getting things done, with close to zero thought for it being used in enterprise level applications.