Is it bad practice to use python's getattr extensively?

Question

I\'m creating a shell-like environment. My original method of handleing user input was to use a dictionary mapping commands (strings) to methods of various classes, making u

Answer 1

does getattr have the same problems as eval?

No -- code using eval() is terribly annoying to maintain, and can have serious security problems. Calling getattr(x, "foo") is just another way to write x.foo.

will I be taking a hit to the efficiency of my shell

It will be imperceptibly slower if the command isn't found, but not enough to matter. You'd only notice it if doing benchmarks, with tens of thousands of entries.