Bugs item #960340, was opened at 2004-05-25 19:30 Message generated for change (Comment added) made by gbrandl You can respond by visiting: https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=105470&aid=960340&group_id=5470
Please note that this message will contain a full copy of the comment thread, including the initial issue submission, for this request, not just the latest update. Category: Documentation Group: Python 2.3 >Status: Closed >Resolution: Fixed Priority: 5 Submitted By: Hallvard B Furuseth (hfuru) Assigned to: Nobody/Anonymous (nobody) Summary: Poor documentation of new-style classes Initial Comment: The Python Reference Manual (info file python-ref) talks a lot about new-style classes, but does not say what they are, except in a brief note buried in node 'Coercion rules'. The library reference does say that object() creates such classes, that too lacks a way to look up 'new-style classes' and find object(). Also, since 'object' is a type, it seems strange that the Library Reference has it in the 'Built-in Functions' node instead of a node about (callable) types. The same applies to several other types. If you want to keep them there, at least add index entries for them in the Class-Exception-Object Index. This refers to the doc in info-2.3.3.tar.bz2 from <http://docs.python.org/download.html>. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >Comment By: Georg Brandl (gbrandl) Date: 2006-03-31 15:12 Message: Logged In: YES user_id=849994 Added index entries in 43480. All else seems to be explained properly now. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Comment By: iga Seilnacht (zseil) Date: 2006-03-31 14:50 Message: Logged In: YES user_id=1326842 This was fixed in revision 41814, when a section titled New-style and classic classes was added to the reference manual. See: http://docs.python.org/dev/ref/node33.html This bug should be closed and resolution changed to fixed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Comment By: Hallvard B Furuseth (hfuru) Date: 2004-06-01 18:37 Message: Logged In: YES user_id=726647 Index to the language reference, yes. And I think the types of classes should be lifted to the header of a paragraph. Maybe just something like this, before the Programmer's note: New-style vs. old-style/classic classes: Subclasses of 'object' are called new-style classes, other classes are called old-style or classic classes. Note that all standard types such as 'int' and 'dict' are subclasses of 'object'. [If that latest part is true. It seems to be about right, anyway.] Maybe you had better also explain here or in section 3.1 (Objects, values and types) that not all objects are subclasses of 'object'. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Comment By: Jim Jewett (jimjjewett) Date: 2004-05-26 13:48 Message: Logged In: YES user_id=764593 That's a start, but I do think "classic class", "old class", and "new-style class" should show up in the index to the language reference as well. One obvious (but perhaps not sufficient?) place is the programmers note at the bottom of 7.6, class definitions. <URL: http://www.python.org/dev/doc/devel/ref/class.html > Just change: "For new-style classes, descriptors ..." to: "For new-style classes (those inheriting from object), descriptors ..." The language lawyer reference also seems like the right place to list all the differences between classic and new classes, but I am less certain how to do that properly. (And it starts to be an Enhancement request.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Comment By: Raymond Hettinger (rhettinger) Date: 2004-05-26 04:45 Message: Logged In: YES user_id=80475 The glossary in the tutorial was added to meet this need. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Comment By: Jim Jewett (jimjjewett) Date: 2004-05-25 22:13 Message: Logged In: YES user_id=764593 object() doesn't create a new-style class; it creates an instance of class object. Note that the definition of a new-style class is just a class inheriting from object, so object itself is a new-style class. That said, the distributed documentation should probably have something more about "new-style" vs "old-style" classes, and should have a reference in the index. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can respond by visiting: https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=105470&aid=960340&group_id=5470 _______________________________________________ Python-bugs-list mailing list Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-bugs-list/archive%40mail-archive.com
