why does get_change_actions return a reference to self.change_actions?

[jws]

why does get_change_actions return a reference to self.change_actions? is there an use case for such behavior?

• the behavior seems intentional given:
  • test logic using id check
  • readme calling list() explicitly over the result of get_change_actions()
  • I would argue the implications of calling list() in the readme is not obvious without a deep understanding here.
• however, this makes it easy, and surprising (!), to write unsafe code that changes the model admin's change_actions definition in one request, and have that change persist across multiple requests.
  • a safer default approach would be to return a copy of self.change_actions instead.

[crccheck]

It's a copy of a standard pattern I've seen in Django