Ruud wrote:
So far for *how* it works. As to *why* it works like this, I don't know for sure. But my guess is that the reasoning was something as follows: if you define a function (regular or something special like a classmethod) only for an instance of a class, you obviously don't want to use it in a class context: it is -by definition- invisible to the class, or to other instances of the same class. One possible use case would be to store a callback function. And in that case you definitely don't want the class magic to happen when you reference the function.
Yep. Got it. Indeed the reason seems to be a valid optimization:
-in 99% of the cases you request something from an instance it is a plain old variable
-in 99% of the cases you request something from a class it's a
function.
So it would be a waste of time to check for the conversion when something exists in the __dict__ of the instance, indeed.
OTOH, I'm talking about the "concept of python" and not CPython implementation, and that's why I have these questions:)
Thanks,
jfj
-- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
