ivar

import objc help(objc.ivar)

gives this:

Help on class ivar in module __builtin__: class ivar(object) | ivar(name, type='@', isOutlet=False) -> instance-variable | | Creates a descriptor for accessing an Objective-C instance variable. | | This should only be used in the definition of Objective-C subclasses, and | will then automaticly define the instance variable in the objective-C side. | | 'type' is optional and should be a signature string. | | The name is optional in class definitions and will default to the name the | value is assigned to

So, as we might have expected, when we call ivar("x","i"), the i refers to the object's type (int). The reason all this is needed is that in Key-Value coding, accessor functions for an object named "x" should be named "x" and "getX." The name duplication is somehow OK in Objective C but not in Python, and objc.ivar somehow makes this work.