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2244 lines
97 KiB
ReStructuredText
2244 lines
97 KiB
ReStructuredText
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.. _datamodel:
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**********
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Data model
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**********
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.. _objects:
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Objects, values and types
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=========================
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.. index::
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single: object
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single: data
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:dfn:`Objects` are Python's abstraction for data. All data in a Python program
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is represented by objects or by relations between objects. (In a sense, and in
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conformance to Von Neumann's model of a "stored program computer," code is also
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represented by objects.)
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.. index::
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builtin: id
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builtin: type
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single: identity of an object
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single: value of an object
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single: type of an object
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single: mutable object
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single: immutable object
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.. XXX it *is* now possible in some cases to change an object's
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type, under certain controlled conditions
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Every object has an identity, a type and a value. An object's *identity* never
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changes once it has been created; you may think of it as the object's address in
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memory. The ':keyword:`is`' operator compares the identity of two objects; the
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:func:`id` function returns an integer representing its identity.
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.. impl-detail::
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For CPython, ``id(x)`` is the memory address where ``x`` is stored.
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An object's type determines the operations that the object supports (e.g., "does
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it have a length?") and also defines the possible values for objects of that
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type. The :func:`type` function returns an object's type (which is an object
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itself). Like its identity, an object's :dfn:`type` is also unchangeable.
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[#]_
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The *value* of some objects can change. Objects whose value can
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change are said to be *mutable*; objects whose value is unchangeable once they
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are created are called *immutable*. (The value of an immutable container object
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that contains a reference to a mutable object can change when the latter's value
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is changed; however the container is still considered immutable, because the
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collection of objects it contains cannot be changed. So, immutability is not
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strictly the same as having an unchangeable value, it is more subtle.) An
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object's mutability is determined by its type; for instance, numbers, strings
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and tuples are immutable, while dictionaries and lists are mutable.
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.. index::
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single: garbage collection
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single: reference counting
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single: unreachable object
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Objects are never explicitly destroyed; however, when they become unreachable
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they may be garbage-collected. An implementation is allowed to postpone garbage
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collection or omit it altogether --- it is a matter of implementation quality
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how garbage collection is implemented, as long as no objects are collected that
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are still reachable.
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.. impl-detail::
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CPython currently uses a reference-counting scheme with (optional) delayed
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detection of cyclically linked garbage, which collects most objects as soon
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as they become unreachable, but is not guaranteed to collect garbage
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containing circular references. See the documentation of the :mod:`gc`
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module for information on controlling the collection of cyclic garbage.
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Other implementations act differently and CPython may change.
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Do not depend on immediate finalization of objects when they become
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unreachable (ex: always close files).
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Note that the use of the implementation's tracing or debugging facilities may
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keep objects alive that would normally be collectable. Also note that catching
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an exception with a ':keyword:`try`...\ :keyword:`except`' statement may keep
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objects alive.
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Some objects contain references to "external" resources such as open files or
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windows. It is understood that these resources are freed when the object is
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garbage-collected, but since garbage collection is not guaranteed to happen,
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such objects also provide an explicit way to release the external resource,
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usually a :meth:`close` method. Programs are strongly recommended to explicitly
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close such objects. The ':keyword:`try`...\ :keyword:`finally`' statement
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and the ':keyword:`with`' statement provide convenient ways to do this.
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.. index:: single: container
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Some objects contain references to other objects; these are called *containers*.
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Examples of containers are tuples, lists and dictionaries. The references are
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part of a container's value. In most cases, when we talk about the value of a
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container, we imply the values, not the identities of the contained objects;
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however, when we talk about the mutability of a container, only the identities
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of the immediately contained objects are implied. So, if an immutable container
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(like a tuple) contains a reference to a mutable object, its value changes if
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that mutable object is changed.
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Types affect almost all aspects of object behavior. Even the importance of
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object identity is affected in some sense: for immutable types, operations that
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compute new values may actually return a reference to any existing object with
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the same type and value, while for mutable objects this is not allowed. E.g.,
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after ``a = 1; b = 1``, ``a`` and ``b`` may or may not refer to the same object
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with the value one, depending on the implementation, but after ``c = []; d =
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[]``, ``c`` and ``d`` are guaranteed to refer to two different, unique, newly
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created empty lists. (Note that ``c = d = []`` assigns the same object to both
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``c`` and ``d``.)
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.. _types:
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The standard type hierarchy
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===========================
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.. index::
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single: type
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pair: data; type
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pair: type; hierarchy
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pair: extension; module
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pair: C; language
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Below is a list of the types that are built into Python. Extension modules
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(written in C, Java, or other languages, depending on the implementation) can
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define additional types. Future versions of Python may add types to the type
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hierarchy (e.g., rational numbers, efficiently stored arrays of integers, etc.),
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although such additions will often be provided via the standard library instead.
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.. index::
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single: attribute
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pair: special; attribute
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triple: generic; special; attribute
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Some of the type descriptions below contain a paragraph listing 'special
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attributes.' These are attributes that provide access to the implementation and
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are not intended for general use. Their definition may change in the future.
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None
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.. index:: object: None
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This type has a single value. There is a single object with this value. This
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object is accessed through the built-in name ``None``. It is used to signify the
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absence of a value in many situations, e.g., it is returned from functions that
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don't explicitly return anything. Its truth value is false.
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NotImplemented
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.. index:: object: NotImplemented
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This type has a single value. There is a single object with this value. This
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object is accessed through the built-in name ``NotImplemented``. Numeric methods
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and rich comparison methods may return this value if they do not implement the
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operation for the operands provided. (The interpreter will then try the
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reflected operation, or some other fallback, depending on the operator.) Its
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truth value is true.
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Ellipsis
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.. index:: object: Ellipsis
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This type has a single value. There is a single object with this value. This
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object is accessed through the literal ``...`` or the built-in name
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``Ellipsis``. Its truth value is true.
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:class:`numbers.Number`
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.. index:: object: numeric
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These are created by numeric literals and returned as results by arithmetic
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operators and arithmetic built-in functions. Numeric objects are immutable;
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once created their value never changes. Python numbers are of course strongly
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related to mathematical numbers, but subject to the limitations of numerical
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representation in computers.
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Python distinguishes between integers, floating point numbers, and complex
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numbers:
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:class:`numbers.Integral`
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.. index:: object: integer
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These represent elements from the mathematical set of integers (positive and
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negative).
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There are two types of integers:
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Integers (:class:`int`)
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These represent numbers in an unlimited range, subject to available (virtual)
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memory only. For the purpose of shift and mask operations, a binary
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representation is assumed, and negative numbers are represented in a variant of
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2's complement which gives the illusion of an infinite string of sign bits
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extending to the left.
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Booleans (:class:`bool`)
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.. index::
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object: Boolean
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single: False
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single: True
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These represent the truth values False and True. The two objects representing
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the values ``False`` and ``True`` are the only Boolean objects. The Boolean type is a
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subtype of the integer type, and Boolean values behave like the values 0 and 1,
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respectively, in almost all contexts, the exception being that when converted to
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a string, the strings ``"False"`` or ``"True"`` are returned, respectively.
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.. index:: pair: integer; representation
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The rules for integer representation are intended to give the most meaningful
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interpretation of shift and mask operations involving negative integers.
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:class:`numbers.Real` (:class:`float`)
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.. index::
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object: floating point
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pair: floating point; number
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pair: C; language
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pair: Java; language
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These represent machine-level double precision floating point numbers. You are
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at the mercy of the underlying machine architecture (and C or Java
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implementation) for the accepted range and handling of overflow. Python does not
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support single-precision floating point numbers; the savings in processor and
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memory usage that are usually the reason for using these is dwarfed by the
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overhead of using objects in Python, so there is no reason to complicate the
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language with two kinds of floating point numbers.
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:class:`numbers.Complex` (:class:`complex`)
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.. index::
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object: complex
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pair: complex; number
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These represent complex numbers as a pair of machine-level double precision
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floating point numbers. The same caveats apply as for floating point numbers.
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The real and imaginary parts of a complex number ``z`` can be retrieved through
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the read-only attributes ``z.real`` and ``z.imag``.
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Sequences
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.. index::
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builtin: len
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object: sequence
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single: index operation
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single: item selection
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single: subscription
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These represent finite ordered sets indexed by non-negative numbers. The
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built-in function :func:`len` returns the number of items of a sequence. When
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the length of a sequence is *n*, the index set contains the numbers 0, 1,
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..., *n*-1. Item *i* of sequence *a* is selected by ``a[i]``.
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.. index:: single: slicing
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Sequences also support slicing: ``a[i:j]`` selects all items with index *k* such
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that *i* ``<=`` *k* ``<`` *j*. When used as an expression, a slice is a
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sequence of the same type. This implies that the index set is renumbered so
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that it starts at 0.
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Some sequences also support "extended slicing" with a third "step" parameter:
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``a[i:j:k]`` selects all items of *a* with index *x* where ``x = i + n*k``, *n*
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``>=`` ``0`` and *i* ``<=`` *x* ``<`` *j*.
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Sequences are distinguished according to their mutability:
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Immutable sequences
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.. index::
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object: immutable sequence
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object: immutable
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An object of an immutable sequence type cannot change once it is created. (If
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the object contains references to other objects, these other objects may be
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mutable and may be changed; however, the collection of objects directly
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referenced by an immutable object cannot change.)
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The following types are immutable sequences:
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.. index::
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single: string; immutable sequences
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Strings
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.. index::
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builtin: chr
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builtin: ord
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single: character
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single: integer
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single: Unicode
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A string is a sequence of values that represent Unicode codepoints.
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All the codepoints in range ``U+0000 - U+10FFFF`` can be represented
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in a string. Python doesn't have a :c:type:`chr` type, and
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every character in the string is represented as a string object
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with length ``1``. The built-in function :func:`ord` converts a
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character to its codepoint (as an integer); :func:`chr` converts
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an integer in range ``0 - 10FFFF`` to the corresponding character.
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:meth:`str.encode` can be used to convert a :class:`str` to
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:class:`bytes` using the given encoding, and :meth:`bytes.decode` can
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be used to achieve the opposite.
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Tuples
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.. index::
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object: tuple
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pair: singleton; tuple
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pair: empty; tuple
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The items of a tuple are arbitrary Python objects. Tuples of two or
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more items are formed by comma-separated lists of expressions. A tuple
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of one item (a 'singleton') can be formed by affixing a comma to an
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expression (an expression by itself does not create a tuple, since
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parentheses must be usable for grouping of expressions). An empty
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tuple can be formed by an empty pair of parentheses.
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Bytes
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.. index:: bytes, byte
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A bytes object is an immutable array. The items are 8-bit bytes,
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represented by integers in the range 0 <= x < 256. Bytes literals
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(like ``b'abc'``) and the built-in function :func:`bytes` can be used to
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construct bytes objects. Also, bytes objects can be decoded to strings
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via the :meth:`~bytes.decode` method.
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Mutable sequences
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.. index::
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object: mutable sequence
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object: mutable
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pair: assignment; statement
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single: subscription
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single: slicing
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Mutable sequences can be changed after they are created. The subscription and
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slicing notations can be used as the target of assignment and :keyword:`del`
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(delete) statements.
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There are currently two intrinsic mutable sequence types:
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Lists
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.. index:: object: list
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The items of a list are arbitrary Python objects. Lists are formed by
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placing a comma-separated list of expressions in square brackets. (Note
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that there are no special cases needed to form lists of length 0 or 1.)
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Byte Arrays
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.. index:: bytearray
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A bytearray object is a mutable array. They are created by the built-in
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:func:`bytearray` constructor. Aside from being mutable (and hence
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unhashable), byte arrays otherwise provide the same interface and
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functionality as immutable bytes objects.
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.. index:: module: array
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The extension module :mod:`array` provides an additional example of a
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mutable sequence type, as does the :mod:`collections` module.
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Set types
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.. index::
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builtin: len
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object: set type
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These represent unordered, finite sets of unique, immutable objects. As such,
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they cannot be indexed by any subscript. However, they can be iterated over, and
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the built-in function :func:`len` returns the number of items in a set. Common
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uses for sets are fast membership testing, removing duplicates from a sequence,
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and computing mathematical operations such as intersection, union, difference,
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and symmetric difference.
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For set elements, the same immutability rules apply as for dictionary keys. Note
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that numeric types obey the normal rules for numeric comparison: if two numbers
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compare equal (e.g., ``1`` and ``1.0``), only one of them can be contained in a
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set.
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There are currently two intrinsic set types:
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Sets
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.. index:: object: set
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These represent a mutable set. They are created by the built-in :func:`set`
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constructor and can be modified afterwards by several methods, such as
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:meth:`~set.add`.
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Frozen sets
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.. index:: object: frozenset
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These represent an immutable set. They are created by the built-in
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:func:`frozenset` constructor. As a frozenset is immutable and
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:term:`hashable`, it can be used again as an element of another set, or as
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a dictionary key.
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Mappings
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.. index::
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builtin: len
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single: subscription
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object: mapping
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These represent finite sets of objects indexed by arbitrary index sets. The
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subscript notation ``a[k]`` selects the item indexed by ``k`` from the mapping
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``a``; this can be used in expressions and as the target of assignments or
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:keyword:`del` statements. The built-in function :func:`len` returns the number
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of items in a mapping.
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There is currently a single intrinsic mapping type:
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Dictionaries
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.. index:: object: dictionary
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These represent finite sets of objects indexed by nearly arbitrary values. The
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only types of values not acceptable as keys are values containing lists or
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dictionaries or other mutable types that are compared by value rather than by
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object identity, the reason being that the efficient implementation of
|
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dictionaries requires a key's hash value to remain constant. Numeric types used
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for keys obey the normal rules for numeric comparison: if two numbers compare
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equal (e.g., ``1`` and ``1.0``) then they can be used interchangeably to index
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the same dictionary entry.
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Dictionaries are mutable; they can be created by the ``{...}`` notation (see
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section :ref:`dict`).
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.. index::
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module: dbm.ndbm
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module: dbm.gnu
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The extension modules :mod:`dbm.ndbm` and :mod:`dbm.gnu` provide
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additional examples of mapping types, as does the :mod:`collections`
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module.
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Callable types
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.. index::
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object: callable
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pair: function; call
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single: invocation
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pair: function; argument
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These are the types to which the function call operation (see section
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:ref:`calls`) can be applied:
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User-defined functions
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.. index::
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pair: user-defined; function
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object: function
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object: user-defined function
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A user-defined function object is created by a function definition (see
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section :ref:`function`). It should be called with an argument list
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containing the same number of items as the function's formal parameter
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list.
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Special attributes:
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.. tabularcolumns:: |l|L|l|
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+-------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------+
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| Attribute | Meaning | |
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+=========================+===============================+===========+
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| :attr:`__doc__` | The function's documentation | Writable |
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| | string, or ``None`` if | |
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| | unavailable | |
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+-------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------+
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| :attr:`__name__` | The function's name | Writable |
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+-------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------+
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| :attr:`__qualname__` | The function's | Writable |
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| | :term:`qualified name` | |
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| | | |
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| | .. versionadded:: 3.3 | |
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+-------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------+
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| :attr:`__module__` | The name of the module the | Writable |
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| | function was defined in, or | |
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| | ``None`` if unavailable. | |
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+-------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------+
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| :attr:`__defaults__` | A tuple containing default | Writable |
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| | argument values for those | |
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| | arguments that have defaults, | |
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| | or ``None`` if no arguments | |
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| | have a default value | |
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+-------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------+
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| :attr:`__code__` | The code object representing | Writable |
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| | the compiled function body. | |
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+-------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------+
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| :attr:`__globals__` | A reference to the dictionary | Read-only |
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| | that holds the function's | |
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| | global variables --- the | |
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| | global namespace of the | |
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| | module in which the function | |
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| | was defined. | |
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+-------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------+
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| :attr:`__dict__` | The namespace supporting | Writable |
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| | arbitrary function | |
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| | attributes. | |
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+-------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------+
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| :attr:`__closure__` | ``None`` or a tuple of cells | Read-only |
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| | that contain bindings for the | |
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| | function's free variables. | |
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+-------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------+
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| :attr:`__annotations__` | A dict containing annotations | Writable |
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| | of parameters. The keys of | |
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| | the dict are the parameter | |
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| | names, and ``'return'`` for | |
|
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| | the return annotation, if | |
|
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| | provided. | |
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+-------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------+
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| :attr:`__kwdefaults__` | A dict containing defaults | Writable |
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| | for keyword-only parameters. | |
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+-------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------+
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Most of the attributes labelled "Writable" check the type of the assigned value.
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Function objects also support getting and setting arbitrary attributes, which
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can be used, for example, to attach metadata to functions. Regular attribute
|
|
dot-notation is used to get and set such attributes. *Note that the current
|
|
implementation only supports function attributes on user-defined functions.
|
|
Function attributes on built-in functions may be supported in the future.*
|
|
|
|
Additional information about a function's definition can be retrieved from its
|
|
code object; see the description of internal types below.
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: __doc__ (function attribute)
|
|
single: __name__ (function attribute)
|
|
single: __module__ (function attribute)
|
|
single: __dict__ (function attribute)
|
|
single: __defaults__ (function attribute)
|
|
single: __closure__ (function attribute)
|
|
single: __code__ (function attribute)
|
|
single: __globals__ (function attribute)
|
|
single: __annotations__ (function attribute)
|
|
single: __kwdefaults__ (function attribute)
|
|
pair: global; namespace
|
|
|
|
Instance methods
|
|
.. index::
|
|
object: method
|
|
object: user-defined method
|
|
pair: user-defined; method
|
|
|
|
An instance method object combines a class, a class instance and any
|
|
callable object (normally a user-defined function).
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: __func__ (method attribute)
|
|
single: __self__ (method attribute)
|
|
single: __doc__ (method attribute)
|
|
single: __name__ (method attribute)
|
|
single: __module__ (method attribute)
|
|
|
|
Special read-only attributes: :attr:`__self__` is the class instance object,
|
|
:attr:`__func__` is the function object; :attr:`__doc__` is the method's
|
|
documentation (same as ``__func__.__doc__``); :attr:`__name__` is the
|
|
method name (same as ``__func__.__name__``); :attr:`__module__` is the
|
|
name of the module the method was defined in, or ``None`` if unavailable.
|
|
|
|
Methods also support accessing (but not setting) the arbitrary function
|
|
attributes on the underlying function object.
|
|
|
|
User-defined method objects may be created when getting an attribute of a
|
|
class (perhaps via an instance of that class), if that attribute is a
|
|
user-defined function object or a class method object.
|
|
|
|
When an instance method object is created by retrieving a user-defined
|
|
function object from a class via one of its instances, its
|
|
:attr:`__self__` attribute is the instance, and the method object is said
|
|
to be bound. The new method's :attr:`__func__` attribute is the original
|
|
function object.
|
|
|
|
When a user-defined method object is created by retrieving another method
|
|
object from a class or instance, the behaviour is the same as for a
|
|
function object, except that the :attr:`__func__` attribute of the new
|
|
instance is not the original method object but its :attr:`__func__`
|
|
attribute.
|
|
|
|
When an instance method object is created by retrieving a class method
|
|
object from a class or instance, its :attr:`__self__` attribute is the
|
|
class itself, and its :attr:`__func__` attribute is the function object
|
|
underlying the class method.
|
|
|
|
When an instance method object is called, the underlying function
|
|
(:attr:`__func__`) is called, inserting the class instance
|
|
(:attr:`__self__`) in front of the argument list. For instance, when
|
|
:class:`C` is a class which contains a definition for a function
|
|
:meth:`f`, and ``x`` is an instance of :class:`C`, calling ``x.f(1)`` is
|
|
equivalent to calling ``C.f(x, 1)``.
|
|
|
|
When an instance method object is derived from a class method object, the
|
|
"class instance" stored in :attr:`__self__` will actually be the class
|
|
itself, so that calling either ``x.f(1)`` or ``C.f(1)`` is equivalent to
|
|
calling ``f(C,1)`` where ``f`` is the underlying function.
|
|
|
|
Note that the transformation from function object to instance method
|
|
object happens each time the attribute is retrieved from the instance. In
|
|
some cases, a fruitful optimization is to assign the attribute to a local
|
|
variable and call that local variable. Also notice that this
|
|
transformation only happens for user-defined functions; other callable
|
|
objects (and all non-callable objects) are retrieved without
|
|
transformation. It is also important to note that user-defined functions
|
|
which are attributes of a class instance are not converted to bound
|
|
methods; this *only* happens when the function is an attribute of the
|
|
class.
|
|
|
|
Generator functions
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: generator; function
|
|
single: generator; iterator
|
|
|
|
A function or method which uses the :keyword:`yield` statement (see section
|
|
:ref:`yield`) is called a :dfn:`generator function`. Such a function, when
|
|
called, always returns an iterator object which can be used to execute the
|
|
body of the function: calling the iterator's :meth:`iterator.__next__`
|
|
method will cause the function to execute until it provides a value
|
|
using the :keyword:`yield` statement. When the function executes a
|
|
:keyword:`return` statement or falls off the end, a :exc:`StopIteration`
|
|
exception is raised and the iterator will have reached the end of the set of
|
|
values to be returned.
|
|
|
|
Built-in functions
|
|
.. index::
|
|
object: built-in function
|
|
object: function
|
|
pair: C; language
|
|
|
|
A built-in function object is a wrapper around a C function. Examples of
|
|
built-in functions are :func:`len` and :func:`math.sin` (:mod:`math` is a
|
|
standard built-in module). The number and type of the arguments are
|
|
determined by the C function. Special read-only attributes:
|
|
:attr:`__doc__` is the function's documentation string, or ``None`` if
|
|
unavailable; :attr:`__name__` is the function's name; :attr:`__self__` is
|
|
set to ``None`` (but see the next item); :attr:`__module__` is the name of
|
|
the module the function was defined in or ``None`` if unavailable.
|
|
|
|
Built-in methods
|
|
.. index::
|
|
object: built-in method
|
|
object: method
|
|
pair: built-in; method
|
|
|
|
This is really a different disguise of a built-in function, this time containing
|
|
an object passed to the C function as an implicit extra argument. An example of
|
|
a built-in method is ``alist.append()``, assuming *alist* is a list object. In
|
|
this case, the special read-only attribute :attr:`__self__` is set to the object
|
|
denoted by *alist*.
|
|
|
|
Classes
|
|
Classes are callable. These objects normally act as factories for new
|
|
instances of themselves, but variations are possible for class types that
|
|
override :meth:`__new__`. The arguments of the call are passed to
|
|
:meth:`__new__` and, in the typical case, to :meth:`__init__` to
|
|
initialize the new instance.
|
|
|
|
Class Instances
|
|
Instances of arbitrary classes can be made callable by defining a
|
|
:meth:`__call__` method in their class.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Modules
|
|
.. index::
|
|
statement: import
|
|
object: module
|
|
|
|
Modules are a basic organizational unit of Python code, and are created by
|
|
the :ref:`import system <importsystem>` as invoked either by the
|
|
:keyword:`import` statement (see :keyword:`import`), or by calling
|
|
functions such as :func:`importlib.import_module` and built-in
|
|
:func:`__import__`. A module object has a namespace implemented by a
|
|
dictionary object (this is the dictionary referenced by the ``__globals__``
|
|
attribute of functions defined in the module). Attribute references are
|
|
translated to lookups in this dictionary, e.g., ``m.x`` is equivalent to
|
|
``m.__dict__["x"]``. A module object does not contain the code object used
|
|
to initialize the module (since it isn't needed once the initialization is
|
|
done).
|
|
|
|
Attribute assignment updates the module's namespace dictionary, e.g.,
|
|
``m.x = 1`` is equivalent to ``m.__dict__["x"] = 1``.
|
|
|
|
.. index:: single: __dict__ (module attribute)
|
|
|
|
Special read-only attribute: :attr:`__dict__` is the module's namespace as a
|
|
dictionary object.
|
|
|
|
.. impl-detail::
|
|
|
|
Because of the way CPython clears module dictionaries, the module
|
|
dictionary will be cleared when the module falls out of scope even if the
|
|
dictionary still has live references. To avoid this, copy the dictionary
|
|
or keep the module around while using its dictionary directly.
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: __name__ (module attribute)
|
|
single: __doc__ (module attribute)
|
|
single: __file__ (module attribute)
|
|
pair: module; namespace
|
|
|
|
Predefined (writable) attributes: :attr:`__name__` is the module's name;
|
|
:attr:`__doc__` is the module's documentation string, or ``None`` if
|
|
unavailable; :attr:`__file__` is the pathname of the file from which the
|
|
module was loaded, if it was loaded from a file. The :attr:`__file__`
|
|
attribute may be missing for certain types of modules, such as C modules
|
|
that are statically linked into the interpreter; for extension modules
|
|
loaded dynamically from a shared library, it is the pathname of the shared
|
|
library file.
|
|
|
|
Custom classes
|
|
Custom class types are typically created by class definitions (see section
|
|
:ref:`class`). A class has a namespace implemented by a dictionary object.
|
|
Class attribute references are translated to lookups in this dictionary, e.g.,
|
|
``C.x`` is translated to ``C.__dict__["x"]`` (although there are a number of
|
|
hooks which allow for other means of locating attributes). When the attribute
|
|
name is not found there, the attribute search continues in the base classes.
|
|
This search of the base classes uses the C3 method resolution order which
|
|
behaves correctly even in the presence of 'diamond' inheritance structures
|
|
where there are multiple inheritance paths leading back to a common ancestor.
|
|
Additional details on the C3 MRO used by Python can be found in the
|
|
documentation accompanying the 2.3 release at
|
|
http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.3/mro/.
|
|
|
|
.. XXX: Could we add that MRO doc as an appendix to the language ref?
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
object: class
|
|
object: class instance
|
|
object: instance
|
|
pair: class object; call
|
|
single: container
|
|
object: dictionary
|
|
pair: class; attribute
|
|
|
|
When a class attribute reference (for class :class:`C`, say) would yield a
|
|
class method object, it is transformed into an instance method object whose
|
|
:attr:`__self__` attributes is :class:`C`. When it would yield a static
|
|
method object, it is transformed into the object wrapped by the static method
|
|
object. See section :ref:`descriptors` for another way in which attributes
|
|
retrieved from a class may differ from those actually contained in its
|
|
:attr:`__dict__`.
|
|
|
|
.. index:: triple: class; attribute; assignment
|
|
|
|
Class attribute assignments update the class's dictionary, never the dictionary
|
|
of a base class.
|
|
|
|
.. index:: pair: class object; call
|
|
|
|
A class object can be called (see above) to yield a class instance (see below).
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: __name__ (class attribute)
|
|
single: __module__ (class attribute)
|
|
single: __dict__ (class attribute)
|
|
single: __bases__ (class attribute)
|
|
single: __doc__ (class attribute)
|
|
|
|
Special attributes: :attr:`__name__` is the class name; :attr:`__module__` is
|
|
the module name in which the class was defined; :attr:`__dict__` is the
|
|
dictionary containing the class's namespace; :attr:`~class.__bases__` is a
|
|
tuple (possibly empty or a singleton) containing the base classes, in the
|
|
order of their occurrence in the base class list; :attr:`__doc__` is the
|
|
class's documentation string, or None if undefined.
|
|
|
|
Class instances
|
|
.. index::
|
|
object: class instance
|
|
object: instance
|
|
pair: class; instance
|
|
pair: class instance; attribute
|
|
|
|
A class instance is created by calling a class object (see above). A class
|
|
instance has a namespace implemented as a dictionary which is the first place
|
|
in which attribute references are searched. When an attribute is not found
|
|
there, and the instance's class has an attribute by that name, the search
|
|
continues with the class attributes. If a class attribute is found that is a
|
|
user-defined function object, it is transformed into an instance method
|
|
object whose :attr:`__self__` attribute is the instance. Static method and
|
|
class method objects are also transformed; see above under "Classes". See
|
|
section :ref:`descriptors` for another way in which attributes of a class
|
|
retrieved via its instances may differ from the objects actually stored in
|
|
the class's :attr:`__dict__`. If no class attribute is found, and the
|
|
object's class has a :meth:`__getattr__` method, that is called to satisfy
|
|
the lookup.
|
|
|
|
.. index:: triple: class instance; attribute; assignment
|
|
|
|
Attribute assignments and deletions update the instance's dictionary, never a
|
|
class's dictionary. If the class has a :meth:`__setattr__` or
|
|
:meth:`__delattr__` method, this is called instead of updating the instance
|
|
dictionary directly.
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
object: numeric
|
|
object: sequence
|
|
object: mapping
|
|
|
|
Class instances can pretend to be numbers, sequences, or mappings if they have
|
|
methods with certain special names. See section :ref:`specialnames`.
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: __dict__ (instance attribute)
|
|
single: __class__ (instance attribute)
|
|
|
|
Special attributes: :attr:`~object.__dict__` is the attribute dictionary;
|
|
:attr:`~instance.__class__` is the instance's class.
|
|
|
|
I/O objects (also known as file objects)
|
|
.. index::
|
|
builtin: open
|
|
module: io
|
|
single: popen() (in module os)
|
|
single: makefile() (socket method)
|
|
single: sys.stdin
|
|
single: sys.stdout
|
|
single: sys.stderr
|
|
single: stdio
|
|
single: stdin (in module sys)
|
|
single: stdout (in module sys)
|
|
single: stderr (in module sys)
|
|
|
|
A :term:`file object` represents an open file. Various shortcuts are
|
|
available to create file objects: the :func:`open` built-in function, and
|
|
also :func:`os.popen`, :func:`os.fdopen`, and the
|
|
:meth:`~socket.socket.makefile` method of socket objects (and perhaps by
|
|
other functions or methods provided by extension modules).
|
|
|
|
The objects ``sys.stdin``, ``sys.stdout`` and ``sys.stderr`` are
|
|
initialized to file objects corresponding to the interpreter's standard
|
|
input, output and error streams; they are all open in text mode and
|
|
therefore follow the interface defined by the :class:`io.TextIOBase`
|
|
abstract class.
|
|
|
|
Internal types
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: internal type
|
|
single: types, internal
|
|
|
|
A few types used internally by the interpreter are exposed to the user. Their
|
|
definitions may change with future versions of the interpreter, but they are
|
|
mentioned here for completeness.
|
|
|
|
Code objects
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: bytecode
|
|
object: code
|
|
|
|
Code objects represent *byte-compiled* executable Python code, or :term:`bytecode`.
|
|
The difference between a code object and a function object is that the function
|
|
object contains an explicit reference to the function's globals (the module in
|
|
which it was defined), while a code object contains no context; also the default
|
|
argument values are stored in the function object, not in the code object
|
|
(because they represent values calculated at run-time). Unlike function
|
|
objects, code objects are immutable and contain no references (directly or
|
|
indirectly) to mutable objects.
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: co_argcount (code object attribute)
|
|
single: co_code (code object attribute)
|
|
single: co_consts (code object attribute)
|
|
single: co_filename (code object attribute)
|
|
single: co_firstlineno (code object attribute)
|
|
single: co_flags (code object attribute)
|
|
single: co_lnotab (code object attribute)
|
|
single: co_name (code object attribute)
|
|
single: co_names (code object attribute)
|
|
single: co_nlocals (code object attribute)
|
|
single: co_stacksize (code object attribute)
|
|
single: co_varnames (code object attribute)
|
|
single: co_cellvars (code object attribute)
|
|
single: co_freevars (code object attribute)
|
|
|
|
Special read-only attributes: :attr:`co_name` gives the function name;
|
|
:attr:`co_argcount` is the number of positional arguments (including arguments
|
|
with default values); :attr:`co_nlocals` is the number of local variables used
|
|
by the function (including arguments); :attr:`co_varnames` is a tuple containing
|
|
the names of the local variables (starting with the argument names);
|
|
:attr:`co_cellvars` is a tuple containing the names of local variables that are
|
|
referenced by nested functions; :attr:`co_freevars` is a tuple containing the
|
|
names of free variables; :attr:`co_code` is a string representing the sequence
|
|
of bytecode instructions; :attr:`co_consts` is a tuple containing the literals
|
|
used by the bytecode; :attr:`co_names` is a tuple containing the names used by
|
|
the bytecode; :attr:`co_filename` is the filename from which the code was
|
|
compiled; :attr:`co_firstlineno` is the first line number of the function;
|
|
:attr:`co_lnotab` is a string encoding the mapping from bytecode offsets to
|
|
line numbers (for details see the source code of the interpreter);
|
|
:attr:`co_stacksize` is the required stack size (including local variables);
|
|
:attr:`co_flags` is an integer encoding a number of flags for the interpreter.
|
|
|
|
.. index:: object: generator
|
|
|
|
The following flag bits are defined for :attr:`co_flags`: bit ``0x04`` is set if
|
|
the function uses the ``*arguments`` syntax to accept an arbitrary number of
|
|
positional arguments; bit ``0x08`` is set if the function uses the
|
|
``**keywords`` syntax to accept arbitrary keyword arguments; bit ``0x20`` is set
|
|
if the function is a generator.
|
|
|
|
Future feature declarations (``from __future__ import division``) also use bits
|
|
in :attr:`co_flags` to indicate whether a code object was compiled with a
|
|
particular feature enabled: bit ``0x2000`` is set if the function was compiled
|
|
with future division enabled; bits ``0x10`` and ``0x1000`` were used in earlier
|
|
versions of Python.
|
|
|
|
Other bits in :attr:`co_flags` are reserved for internal use.
|
|
|
|
.. index:: single: documentation string
|
|
|
|
If a code object represents a function, the first item in :attr:`co_consts` is
|
|
the documentation string of the function, or ``None`` if undefined.
|
|
|
|
.. _frame-objects:
|
|
|
|
Frame objects
|
|
.. index:: object: frame
|
|
|
|
Frame objects represent execution frames. They may occur in traceback objects
|
|
(see below).
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: f_back (frame attribute)
|
|
single: f_code (frame attribute)
|
|
single: f_globals (frame attribute)
|
|
single: f_locals (frame attribute)
|
|
single: f_lasti (frame attribute)
|
|
single: f_builtins (frame attribute)
|
|
|
|
Special read-only attributes: :attr:`f_back` is to the previous stack frame
|
|
(towards the caller), or ``None`` if this is the bottom stack frame;
|
|
:attr:`f_code` is the code object being executed in this frame; :attr:`f_locals`
|
|
is the dictionary used to look up local variables; :attr:`f_globals` is used for
|
|
global variables; :attr:`f_builtins` is used for built-in (intrinsic) names;
|
|
:attr:`f_lasti` gives the precise instruction (this is an index into the
|
|
bytecode string of the code object).
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: f_trace (frame attribute)
|
|
single: f_lineno (frame attribute)
|
|
|
|
Special writable attributes: :attr:`f_trace`, if not ``None``, is a function
|
|
called at the start of each source code line (this is used by the debugger);
|
|
:attr:`f_lineno` is the current line number of the frame --- writing to this
|
|
from within a trace function jumps to the given line (only for the bottom-most
|
|
frame). A debugger can implement a Jump command (aka Set Next Statement)
|
|
by writing to f_lineno.
|
|
|
|
Frame objects support one method:
|
|
|
|
.. method:: frame.clear()
|
|
|
|
This method clears all references to local variables held by the
|
|
frame. Also, if the frame belonged to a generator, the generator
|
|
is finalized. This helps break reference cycles involving frame
|
|
objects (for example when catching an exception and storing its
|
|
traceback for later use).
|
|
|
|
:exc:`RuntimeError` is raised if the frame is currently executing.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 3.4
|
|
|
|
Traceback objects
|
|
.. index::
|
|
object: traceback
|
|
pair: stack; trace
|
|
pair: exception; handler
|
|
pair: execution; stack
|
|
single: exc_info (in module sys)
|
|
single: last_traceback (in module sys)
|
|
single: sys.exc_info
|
|
single: sys.last_traceback
|
|
|
|
Traceback objects represent a stack trace of an exception. A traceback object
|
|
is created when an exception occurs. When the search for an exception handler
|
|
unwinds the execution stack, at each unwound level a traceback object is
|
|
inserted in front of the current traceback. When an exception handler is
|
|
entered, the stack trace is made available to the program. (See section
|
|
:ref:`try`.) It is accessible as the third item of the
|
|
tuple returned by ``sys.exc_info()``. When the program contains no suitable
|
|
handler, the stack trace is written (nicely formatted) to the standard error
|
|
stream; if the interpreter is interactive, it is also made available to the user
|
|
as ``sys.last_traceback``.
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: tb_next (traceback attribute)
|
|
single: tb_frame (traceback attribute)
|
|
single: tb_lineno (traceback attribute)
|
|
single: tb_lasti (traceback attribute)
|
|
statement: try
|
|
|
|
Special read-only attributes: :attr:`tb_next` is the next level in the stack
|
|
trace (towards the frame where the exception occurred), or ``None`` if there is
|
|
no next level; :attr:`tb_frame` points to the execution frame of the current
|
|
level; :attr:`tb_lineno` gives the line number where the exception occurred;
|
|
:attr:`tb_lasti` indicates the precise instruction. The line number and last
|
|
instruction in the traceback may differ from the line number of its frame object
|
|
if the exception occurred in a :keyword:`try` statement with no matching except
|
|
clause or with a finally clause.
|
|
|
|
Slice objects
|
|
.. index:: builtin: slice
|
|
|
|
Slice objects are used to represent slices for :meth:`__getitem__`
|
|
methods. They are also created by the built-in :func:`slice` function.
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: start (slice object attribute)
|
|
single: stop (slice object attribute)
|
|
single: step (slice object attribute)
|
|
|
|
Special read-only attributes: :attr:`~slice.start` is the lower bound;
|
|
:attr:`~slice.stop` is the upper bound; :attr:`~slice.step` is the step
|
|
value; each is ``None`` if omitted. These attributes can have any type.
|
|
|
|
Slice objects support one method:
|
|
|
|
.. method:: slice.indices(self, length)
|
|
|
|
This method takes a single integer argument *length* and computes
|
|
information about the slice that the slice object would describe if
|
|
applied to a sequence of *length* items. It returns a tuple of three
|
|
integers; respectively these are the *start* and *stop* indices and the
|
|
*step* or stride length of the slice. Missing or out-of-bounds indices
|
|
are handled in a manner consistent with regular slices.
|
|
|
|
Static method objects
|
|
Static method objects provide a way of defeating the transformation of function
|
|
objects to method objects described above. A static method object is a wrapper
|
|
around any other object, usually a user-defined method object. When a static
|
|
method object is retrieved from a class or a class instance, the object actually
|
|
returned is the wrapped object, which is not subject to any further
|
|
transformation. Static method objects are not themselves callable, although the
|
|
objects they wrap usually are. Static method objects are created by the built-in
|
|
:func:`staticmethod` constructor.
|
|
|
|
Class method objects
|
|
A class method object, like a static method object, is a wrapper around another
|
|
object that alters the way in which that object is retrieved from classes and
|
|
class instances. The behaviour of class method objects upon such retrieval is
|
|
described above, under "User-defined methods". Class method objects are created
|
|
by the built-in :func:`classmethod` constructor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _specialnames:
|
|
|
|
Special method names
|
|
====================
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
pair: operator; overloading
|
|
single: __getitem__() (mapping object method)
|
|
|
|
A class can implement certain operations that are invoked by special syntax
|
|
(such as arithmetic operations or subscripting and slicing) by defining methods
|
|
with special names. This is Python's approach to :dfn:`operator overloading`,
|
|
allowing classes to define their own behavior with respect to language
|
|
operators. For instance, if a class defines a method named :meth:`__getitem__`,
|
|
and ``x`` is an instance of this class, then ``x[i]`` is roughly equivalent
|
|
to ``type(x).__getitem__(x, i)``. Except where mentioned, attempts to execute an
|
|
operation raise an exception when no appropriate method is defined (typically
|
|
:exc:`AttributeError` or :exc:`TypeError`).
|
|
|
|
When implementing a class that emulates any built-in type, it is important that
|
|
the emulation only be implemented to the degree that it makes sense for the
|
|
object being modelled. For example, some sequences may work well with retrieval
|
|
of individual elements, but extracting a slice may not make sense. (One example
|
|
of this is the :class:`~xml.dom.NodeList` interface in the W3C's Document
|
|
Object Model.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _customization:
|
|
|
|
Basic customization
|
|
-------------------
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__new__(cls[, ...])
|
|
|
|
.. index:: pair: subclassing; immutable types
|
|
|
|
Called to create a new instance of class *cls*. :meth:`__new__` is a static
|
|
method (special-cased so you need not declare it as such) that takes the class
|
|
of which an instance was requested as its first argument. The remaining
|
|
arguments are those passed to the object constructor expression (the call to the
|
|
class). The return value of :meth:`__new__` should be the new object instance
|
|
(usually an instance of *cls*).
|
|
|
|
Typical implementations create a new instance of the class by invoking the
|
|
superclass's :meth:`__new__` method using ``super(currentclass,
|
|
cls).__new__(cls[, ...])`` with appropriate arguments and then modifying the
|
|
newly-created instance as necessary before returning it.
|
|
|
|
If :meth:`__new__` returns an instance of *cls*, then the new instance's
|
|
:meth:`__init__` method will be invoked like ``__init__(self[, ...])``, where
|
|
*self* is the new instance and the remaining arguments are the same as were
|
|
passed to :meth:`__new__`.
|
|
|
|
If :meth:`__new__` does not return an instance of *cls*, then the new instance's
|
|
:meth:`__init__` method will not be invoked.
|
|
|
|
:meth:`__new__` is intended mainly to allow subclasses of immutable types (like
|
|
int, str, or tuple) to customize instance creation. It is also commonly
|
|
overridden in custom metaclasses in order to customize class creation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__init__(self[, ...])
|
|
|
|
.. index:: pair: class; constructor
|
|
|
|
Called when the instance is created. The arguments are those passed to the
|
|
class constructor expression. If a base class has an :meth:`__init__` method,
|
|
the derived class's :meth:`__init__` method, if any, must explicitly call it to
|
|
ensure proper initialization of the base class part of the instance; for
|
|
example: ``BaseClass.__init__(self, [args...])``. As a special constraint on
|
|
constructors, no value may be returned; doing so will cause a :exc:`TypeError`
|
|
to be raised at runtime.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__del__(self)
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: destructor
|
|
statement: del
|
|
|
|
Called when the instance is about to be destroyed. This is also called a
|
|
destructor. If a base class has a :meth:`__del__` method, the derived class's
|
|
:meth:`__del__` method, if any, must explicitly call it to ensure proper
|
|
deletion of the base class part of the instance. Note that it is possible
|
|
(though not recommended!) for the :meth:`__del__` method to postpone destruction
|
|
of the instance by creating a new reference to it. It may then be called at a
|
|
later time when this new reference is deleted. It is not guaranteed that
|
|
:meth:`__del__` methods are called for objects that still exist when the
|
|
interpreter exits.
|
|
|
|
.. note::
|
|
|
|
``del x`` doesn't directly call ``x.__del__()`` --- the former decrements
|
|
the reference count for ``x`` by one, and the latter is only called when
|
|
``x``'s reference count reaches zero. Some common situations that may
|
|
prevent the reference count of an object from going to zero include:
|
|
circular references between objects (e.g., a doubly-linked list or a tree
|
|
data structure with parent and child pointers); a reference to the object
|
|
on the stack frame of a function that caught an exception (the traceback
|
|
stored in ``sys.exc_info()[2]`` keeps the stack frame alive); or a
|
|
reference to the object on the stack frame that raised an unhandled
|
|
exception in interactive mode (the traceback stored in
|
|
``sys.last_traceback`` keeps the stack frame alive). The first situation
|
|
can only be remedied by explicitly breaking the cycles; the latter two
|
|
situations can be resolved by storing ``None`` in ``sys.last_traceback``.
|
|
Circular references which are garbage are detected and cleaned up when
|
|
the cyclic garbage collector is enabled (it's on by default). Refer to the
|
|
documentation for the :mod:`gc` module for more information about this
|
|
topic.
|
|
|
|
.. warning::
|
|
|
|
Due to the precarious circumstances under which :meth:`__del__` methods are
|
|
invoked, exceptions that occur during their execution are ignored, and a warning
|
|
is printed to ``sys.stderr`` instead. Also, when :meth:`__del__` is invoked in
|
|
response to a module being deleted (e.g., when execution of the program is
|
|
done), other globals referenced by the :meth:`__del__` method may already have
|
|
been deleted or in the process of being torn down (e.g. the import
|
|
machinery shutting down). For this reason, :meth:`__del__` methods
|
|
should do the absolute
|
|
minimum needed to maintain external invariants. Starting with version 1.5,
|
|
Python guarantees that globals whose name begins with a single underscore are
|
|
deleted from their module before other globals are deleted; if no other
|
|
references to such globals exist, this may help in assuring that imported
|
|
modules are still available at the time when the :meth:`__del__` method is
|
|
called.
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: repr() (built-in function); __repr__() (object method)
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__repr__(self)
|
|
|
|
Called by the :func:`repr` built-in function to compute the "official" string
|
|
representation of an object. If at all possible, this should look like a
|
|
valid Python expression that could be used to recreate an object with the
|
|
same value (given an appropriate environment). If this is not possible, a
|
|
string of the form ``<...some useful description...>`` should be returned.
|
|
The return value must be a string object. If a class defines :meth:`__repr__`
|
|
but not :meth:`__str__`, then :meth:`__repr__` is also used when an
|
|
"informal" string representation of instances of that class is required.
|
|
|
|
This is typically used for debugging, so it is important that the representation
|
|
is information-rich and unambiguous.
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: string; __str__() (object method)
|
|
single: format() (built-in function); __str__() (object method)
|
|
single: print() (built-in function); __str__() (object method)
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__str__(self)
|
|
|
|
Called by :func:`str(object) <str>` and the built-in functions
|
|
:func:`format` and :func:`print` to compute the "informal" or nicely
|
|
printable string representation of an object. The return value must be a
|
|
:ref:`string <textseq>` object.
|
|
|
|
This method differs from :meth:`object.__repr__` in that there is no
|
|
expectation that :meth:`__str__` return a valid Python expression: a more
|
|
convenient or concise representation can be used.
|
|
|
|
The default implementation defined by the built-in type :class:`object`
|
|
calls :meth:`object.__repr__`.
|
|
|
|
.. XXX what about subclasses of string?
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__bytes__(self)
|
|
|
|
.. index:: builtin: bytes
|
|
|
|
Called by :func:`bytes` to compute a byte-string representation of an
|
|
object. This should return a ``bytes`` object.
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: string; __format__() (object method)
|
|
pair: string; conversion
|
|
builtin: print
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__format__(self, format_spec)
|
|
|
|
Called by the :func:`format` built-in function (and by extension, the
|
|
:meth:`str.format` method of class :class:`str`) to produce a "formatted"
|
|
string representation of an object. The ``format_spec`` argument is
|
|
a string that contains a description of the formatting options desired.
|
|
The interpretation of the ``format_spec`` argument is up to the type
|
|
implementing :meth:`__format__`, however most classes will either
|
|
delegate formatting to one of the built-in types, or use a similar
|
|
formatting option syntax.
|
|
|
|
See :ref:`formatspec` for a description of the standard formatting syntax.
|
|
|
|
The return value must be a string object.
|
|
|
|
.. versionchanged:: 3.4
|
|
The __format__ method of ``object`` itself raises a :exc:`TypeError`
|
|
if passed any non-empty string.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _richcmpfuncs:
|
|
.. method:: object.__lt__(self, other)
|
|
object.__le__(self, other)
|
|
object.__eq__(self, other)
|
|
object.__ne__(self, other)
|
|
object.__gt__(self, other)
|
|
object.__ge__(self, other)
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: comparisons
|
|
|
|
These are the so-called "rich comparison" methods. The correspondence between
|
|
operator symbols and method names is as follows: ``x<y`` calls ``x.__lt__(y)``,
|
|
``x<=y`` calls ``x.__le__(y)``, ``x==y`` calls ``x.__eq__(y)``, ``x!=y`` calls
|
|
``x.__ne__(y)``, ``x>y`` calls ``x.__gt__(y)``, and ``x>=y`` calls
|
|
``x.__ge__(y)``.
|
|
|
|
A rich comparison method may return the singleton ``NotImplemented`` if it does
|
|
not implement the operation for a given pair of arguments. By convention,
|
|
``False`` and ``True`` are returned for a successful comparison. However, these
|
|
methods can return any value, so if the comparison operator is used in a Boolean
|
|
context (e.g., in the condition of an ``if`` statement), Python will call
|
|
:func:`bool` on the value to determine if the result is true or false.
|
|
|
|
There are no implied relationships among the comparison operators. The truth
|
|
of ``x==y`` does not imply that ``x!=y`` is false. Accordingly, when
|
|
defining :meth:`__eq__`, one should also define :meth:`__ne__` so that the
|
|
operators will behave as expected. See the paragraph on :meth:`__hash__` for
|
|
some important notes on creating :term:`hashable` objects which support
|
|
custom comparison operations and are usable as dictionary keys.
|
|
|
|
There are no swapped-argument versions of these methods (to be used when the
|
|
left argument does not support the operation but the right argument does);
|
|
rather, :meth:`__lt__` and :meth:`__gt__` are each other's reflection,
|
|
:meth:`__le__` and :meth:`__ge__` are each other's reflection, and
|
|
:meth:`__eq__` and :meth:`__ne__` are their own reflection.
|
|
|
|
Arguments to rich comparison methods are never coerced.
|
|
|
|
To automatically generate ordering operations from a single root operation,
|
|
see :func:`functools.total_ordering`.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__hash__(self)
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
object: dictionary
|
|
builtin: hash
|
|
|
|
Called by built-in function :func:`hash` and for operations on members of
|
|
hashed collections including :class:`set`, :class:`frozenset`, and
|
|
:class:`dict`. :meth:`__hash__` should return an integer. The only
|
|
required property is that objects which compare equal have the same hash
|
|
value; it is advised to somehow mix together (e.g. using exclusive or) the
|
|
hash values for the components of the object that also play a part in
|
|
comparison of objects.
|
|
|
|
.. note::
|
|
|
|
:func:`hash` truncates the value returned from an object's custom
|
|
:meth:`__hash__` method to the size of a :c:type:`Py_ssize_t`. This is
|
|
typically 8 bytes on 64-bit builds and 4 bytes on 32-bit builds. If an
|
|
object's :meth:`__hash__` must interoperate on builds of different bit
|
|
sizes, be sure to check the width on all supported builds. An easy way
|
|
to do this is with
|
|
``python -c "import sys; print(sys.hash_info.width)"``
|
|
|
|
If a class does not define an :meth:`__eq__` method it should not define a
|
|
:meth:`__hash__` operation either; if it defines :meth:`__eq__` but not
|
|
:meth:`__hash__`, its instances will not be usable as items in hashable
|
|
collections. If a class defines mutable objects and implements an
|
|
:meth:`__eq__` method, it should not implement :meth:`__hash__`, since the
|
|
implementation of hashable collections requires that a key's hash value is
|
|
immutable (if the object's hash value changes, it will be in the wrong hash
|
|
bucket).
|
|
|
|
User-defined classes have :meth:`__eq__` and :meth:`__hash__` methods
|
|
by default; with them, all objects compare unequal (except with themselves)
|
|
and ``x.__hash__()`` returns an appropriate value such that ``x == y``
|
|
implies both that ``x is y`` and ``hash(x) == hash(y)``.
|
|
|
|
A class that overrides :meth:`__eq__` and does not define :meth:`__hash__`
|
|
will have its :meth:`__hash__` implicitly set to ``None``. When the
|
|
:meth:`__hash__` method of a class is ``None``, instances of the class will
|
|
raise an appropriate :exc:`TypeError` when a program attempts to retrieve
|
|
their hash value, and will also be correctly identified as unhashable when
|
|
checking ``isinstance(obj, collections.Hashable``).
|
|
|
|
If a class that overrides :meth:`__eq__` needs to retain the implementation
|
|
of :meth:`__hash__` from a parent class, the interpreter must be told this
|
|
explicitly by setting ``__hash__ = <ParentClass>.__hash__``.
|
|
|
|
If a class that does not override :meth:`__eq__` wishes to suppress hash
|
|
support, it should include ``__hash__ = None`` in the class definition.
|
|
A class which defines its own :meth:`__hash__` that explicitly raises
|
|
a :exc:`TypeError` would be incorrectly identified as hashable by
|
|
an ``isinstance(obj, collections.Hashable)`` call.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. note::
|
|
|
|
By default, the :meth:`__hash__` values of str, bytes and datetime
|
|
objects are "salted" with an unpredictable random value. Although they
|
|
remain constant within an individual Python process, they are not
|
|
predictable between repeated invocations of Python.
|
|
|
|
This is intended to provide protection against a denial-of-service caused
|
|
by carefully-chosen inputs that exploit the worst case performance of a
|
|
dict insertion, O(n^2) complexity. See
|
|
http://www.ocert.org/advisories/ocert-2011-003.html for details.
|
|
|
|
Changing hash values affects the iteration order of dicts, sets and
|
|
other mappings. Python has never made guarantees about this ordering
|
|
(and it typically varies between 32-bit and 64-bit builds).
|
|
|
|
See also :envvar:`PYTHONHASHSEED`.
|
|
|
|
.. versionchanged:: 3.3
|
|
Hash randomization is enabled by default.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__bool__(self)
|
|
|
|
.. index:: single: __len__() (mapping object method)
|
|
|
|
Called to implement truth value testing and the built-in operation
|
|
``bool()``; should return ``False`` or ``True``. When this method is not
|
|
defined, :meth:`__len__` is called, if it is defined, and the object is
|
|
considered true if its result is nonzero. If a class defines neither
|
|
:meth:`__len__` nor :meth:`__bool__`, all its instances are considered
|
|
true.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _attribute-access:
|
|
|
|
Customizing attribute access
|
|
----------------------------
|
|
|
|
The following methods can be defined to customize the meaning of attribute
|
|
access (use of, assignment to, or deletion of ``x.name``) for class instances.
|
|
|
|
.. XXX explain how descriptors interfere here!
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__getattr__(self, name)
|
|
|
|
Called when an attribute lookup has not found the attribute in the usual places
|
|
(i.e. it is not an instance attribute nor is it found in the class tree for
|
|
``self``). ``name`` is the attribute name. This method should return the
|
|
(computed) attribute value or raise an :exc:`AttributeError` exception.
|
|
|
|
Note that if the attribute is found through the normal mechanism,
|
|
:meth:`__getattr__` is not called. (This is an intentional asymmetry between
|
|
:meth:`__getattr__` and :meth:`__setattr__`.) This is done both for efficiency
|
|
reasons and because otherwise :meth:`__getattr__` would have no way to access
|
|
other attributes of the instance. Note that at least for instance variables,
|
|
you can fake total control by not inserting any values in the instance attribute
|
|
dictionary (but instead inserting them in another object). See the
|
|
:meth:`__getattribute__` method below for a way to actually get total control
|
|
over attribute access.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__getattribute__(self, name)
|
|
|
|
Called unconditionally to implement attribute accesses for instances of the
|
|
class. If the class also defines :meth:`__getattr__`, the latter will not be
|
|
called unless :meth:`__getattribute__` either calls it explicitly or raises an
|
|
:exc:`AttributeError`. This method should return the (computed) attribute value
|
|
or raise an :exc:`AttributeError` exception. In order to avoid infinite
|
|
recursion in this method, its implementation should always call the base class
|
|
method with the same name to access any attributes it needs, for example,
|
|
``object.__getattribute__(self, name)``.
|
|
|
|
.. note::
|
|
|
|
This method may still be bypassed when looking up special methods as the
|
|
result of implicit invocation via language syntax or built-in functions.
|
|
See :ref:`special-lookup`.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__setattr__(self, name, value)
|
|
|
|
Called when an attribute assignment is attempted. This is called instead of
|
|
the normal mechanism (i.e. store the value in the instance dictionary).
|
|
*name* is the attribute name, *value* is the value to be assigned to it.
|
|
|
|
If :meth:`__setattr__` wants to assign to an instance attribute, it should
|
|
call the base class method with the same name, for example,
|
|
``object.__setattr__(self, name, value)``.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__delattr__(self, name)
|
|
|
|
Like :meth:`__setattr__` but for attribute deletion instead of assignment. This
|
|
should only be implemented if ``del obj.name`` is meaningful for the object.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__dir__(self)
|
|
|
|
Called when :func:`dir` is called on the object. A sequence must be
|
|
returned. :func:`dir` converts the returned sequence to a list and sorts it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _descriptors:
|
|
|
|
Implementing Descriptors
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
The following methods only apply when an instance of the class containing the
|
|
method (a so-called *descriptor* class) appears in an *owner* class (the
|
|
descriptor must be in either the owner's class dictionary or in the class
|
|
dictionary for one of its parents). In the examples below, "the attribute"
|
|
refers to the attribute whose name is the key of the property in the owner
|
|
class' :attr:`__dict__`.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__get__(self, instance, owner)
|
|
|
|
Called to get the attribute of the owner class (class attribute access) or of an
|
|
instance of that class (instance attribute access). *owner* is always the owner
|
|
class, while *instance* is the instance that the attribute was accessed through,
|
|
or ``None`` when the attribute is accessed through the *owner*. This method
|
|
should return the (computed) attribute value or raise an :exc:`AttributeError`
|
|
exception.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__set__(self, instance, value)
|
|
|
|
Called to set the attribute on an instance *instance* of the owner class to a
|
|
new value, *value*.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__delete__(self, instance)
|
|
|
|
Called to delete the attribute on an instance *instance* of the owner class.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The attribute :attr:`__objclass__` is interpreted by the :mod:`inspect` module
|
|
as specifying the class where this object was defined (setting this
|
|
appropriately can assist in runtime introspection of dynamic class attributes).
|
|
For callables, it may indicate that an instance of the given type (or a
|
|
subclass) is expected or required as the first positional argument (for example,
|
|
CPython sets this attribute for unbound methods that are implemented in C).
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _descriptor-invocation:
|
|
|
|
Invoking Descriptors
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
In general, a descriptor is an object attribute with "binding behavior", one
|
|
whose attribute access has been overridden by methods in the descriptor
|
|
protocol: :meth:`__get__`, :meth:`__set__`, and :meth:`__delete__`. If any of
|
|
those methods are defined for an object, it is said to be a descriptor.
|
|
|
|
The default behavior for attribute access is to get, set, or delete the
|
|
attribute from an object's dictionary. For instance, ``a.x`` has a lookup chain
|
|
starting with ``a.__dict__['x']``, then ``type(a).__dict__['x']``, and
|
|
continuing through the base classes of ``type(a)`` excluding metaclasses.
|
|
|
|
However, if the looked-up value is an object defining one of the descriptor
|
|
methods, then Python may override the default behavior and invoke the descriptor
|
|
method instead. Where this occurs in the precedence chain depends on which
|
|
descriptor methods were defined and how they were called.
|
|
|
|
The starting point for descriptor invocation is a binding, ``a.x``. How the
|
|
arguments are assembled depends on ``a``:
|
|
|
|
Direct Call
|
|
The simplest and least common call is when user code directly invokes a
|
|
descriptor method: ``x.__get__(a)``.
|
|
|
|
Instance Binding
|
|
If binding to an object instance, ``a.x`` is transformed into the call:
|
|
``type(a).__dict__['x'].__get__(a, type(a))``.
|
|
|
|
Class Binding
|
|
If binding to a class, ``A.x`` is transformed into the call:
|
|
``A.__dict__['x'].__get__(None, A)``.
|
|
|
|
Super Binding
|
|
If ``a`` is an instance of :class:`super`, then the binding ``super(B,
|
|
obj).m()`` searches ``obj.__class__.__mro__`` for the base class ``A``
|
|
immediately preceding ``B`` and then invokes the descriptor with the call:
|
|
``A.__dict__['m'].__get__(obj, obj.__class__)``.
|
|
|
|
For instance bindings, the precedence of descriptor invocation depends on the
|
|
which descriptor methods are defined. A descriptor can define any combination
|
|
of :meth:`__get__`, :meth:`__set__` and :meth:`__delete__`. If it does not
|
|
define :meth:`__get__`, then accessing the attribute will return the descriptor
|
|
object itself unless there is a value in the object's instance dictionary. If
|
|
the descriptor defines :meth:`__set__` and/or :meth:`__delete__`, it is a data
|
|
descriptor; if it defines neither, it is a non-data descriptor. Normally, data
|
|
descriptors define both :meth:`__get__` and :meth:`__set__`, while non-data
|
|
descriptors have just the :meth:`__get__` method. Data descriptors with
|
|
:meth:`__set__` and :meth:`__get__` defined always override a redefinition in an
|
|
instance dictionary. In contrast, non-data descriptors can be overridden by
|
|
instances.
|
|
|
|
Python methods (including :func:`staticmethod` and :func:`classmethod`) are
|
|
implemented as non-data descriptors. Accordingly, instances can redefine and
|
|
override methods. This allows individual instances to acquire behaviors that
|
|
differ from other instances of the same class.
|
|
|
|
The :func:`property` function is implemented as a data descriptor. Accordingly,
|
|
instances cannot override the behavior of a property.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _slots:
|
|
|
|
__slots__
|
|
^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
By default, instances of classes have a dictionary for attribute storage. This
|
|
wastes space for objects having very few instance variables. The space
|
|
consumption can become acute when creating large numbers of instances.
|
|
|
|
The default can be overridden by defining *__slots__* in a class definition.
|
|
The *__slots__* declaration takes a sequence of instance variables and reserves
|
|
just enough space in each instance to hold a value for each variable. Space is
|
|
saved because *__dict__* is not created for each instance.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. data:: object.__slots__
|
|
|
|
This class variable can be assigned a string, iterable, or sequence of
|
|
strings with variable names used by instances. If defined in a
|
|
class, *__slots__* reserves space for the declared variables and prevents the
|
|
automatic creation of *__dict__* and *__weakref__* for each instance.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Notes on using *__slots__*
|
|
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
|
|
|
|
* When inheriting from a class without *__slots__*, the *__dict__* attribute of
|
|
that class will always be accessible, so a *__slots__* definition in the
|
|
subclass is meaningless.
|
|
|
|
* Without a *__dict__* variable, instances cannot be assigned new variables not
|
|
listed in the *__slots__* definition. Attempts to assign to an unlisted
|
|
variable name raises :exc:`AttributeError`. If dynamic assignment of new
|
|
variables is desired, then add ``'__dict__'`` to the sequence of strings in
|
|
the *__slots__* declaration.
|
|
|
|
* Without a *__weakref__* variable for each instance, classes defining
|
|
*__slots__* do not support weak references to its instances. If weak reference
|
|
support is needed, then add ``'__weakref__'`` to the sequence of strings in the
|
|
*__slots__* declaration.
|
|
|
|
* *__slots__* are implemented at the class level by creating descriptors
|
|
(:ref:`descriptors`) for each variable name. As a result, class attributes
|
|
cannot be used to set default values for instance variables defined by
|
|
*__slots__*; otherwise, the class attribute would overwrite the descriptor
|
|
assignment.
|
|
|
|
* The action of a *__slots__* declaration is limited to the class where it is
|
|
defined. As a result, subclasses will have a *__dict__* unless they also define
|
|
*__slots__* (which must only contain names of any *additional* slots).
|
|
|
|
* If a class defines a slot also defined in a base class, the instance variable
|
|
defined by the base class slot is inaccessible (except by retrieving its
|
|
descriptor directly from the base class). This renders the meaning of the
|
|
program undefined. In the future, a check may be added to prevent this.
|
|
|
|
* Nonempty *__slots__* does not work for classes derived from "variable-length"
|
|
built-in types such as :class:`int`, :class:`bytes` and :class:`tuple`.
|
|
|
|
* Any non-string iterable may be assigned to *__slots__*. Mappings may also be
|
|
used; however, in the future, special meaning may be assigned to the values
|
|
corresponding to each key.
|
|
|
|
* *__class__* assignment works only if both classes have the same *__slots__*.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _metaclasses:
|
|
|
|
Customizing class creation
|
|
--------------------------
|
|
|
|
By default, classes are constructed using :func:`type`. The class body is
|
|
executed in a new namespace and the class name is bound locally to the
|
|
result of ``type(name, bases, namespace)``.
|
|
|
|
The class creation process can be customised by passing the ``metaclass``
|
|
keyword argument in the class definition line, or by inheriting from an
|
|
existing class that included such an argument. In the following example,
|
|
both ``MyClass`` and ``MySubclass`` are instances of ``Meta``::
|
|
|
|
class Meta(type):
|
|
pass
|
|
|
|
class MyClass(metaclass=Meta):
|
|
pass
|
|
|
|
class MySubclass(MyClass):
|
|
pass
|
|
|
|
Any other keyword arguments that are specified in the class definition are
|
|
passed through to all metaclass operations described below.
|
|
|
|
When a class definition is executed, the following steps occur:
|
|
|
|
* the appropriate metaclass is determined
|
|
* the class namespace is prepared
|
|
* the class body is executed
|
|
* the class object is created
|
|
|
|
Determining the appropriate metaclass
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
The appropriate metaclass for a class definition is determined as follows:
|
|
|
|
* if no bases and no explicit metaclass are given, then :func:`type` is used
|
|
* if an explicit metaclass is given and it is *not* an instance of
|
|
:func:`type`, then it is used directly as the metaclass
|
|
* if an instance of :func:`type` is given as the explicit metaclass, or
|
|
bases are defined, then the most derived metaclass is used
|
|
|
|
The most derived metaclass is selected from the explicitly specified
|
|
metaclass (if any) and the metaclasses (i.e. ``type(cls)``) of all specified
|
|
base classes. The most derived metaclass is one which is a subtype of *all*
|
|
of these candidate metaclasses. If none of the candidate metaclasses meets
|
|
that criterion, then the class definition will fail with ``TypeError``.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _prepare:
|
|
|
|
Preparing the class namespace
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
Once the appropriate metaclass has been identified, then the class namespace
|
|
is prepared. If the metaclass has a ``__prepare__`` attribute, it is called
|
|
as ``namespace = metaclass.__prepare__(name, bases, **kwds)`` (where the
|
|
additional keyword arguments, if any, come from the class definition).
|
|
|
|
If the metaclass has no ``__prepare__`` attribute, then the class namespace
|
|
is initialised as an empty :func:`dict` instance.
|
|
|
|
.. seealso::
|
|
|
|
:pep:`3115` - Metaclasses in Python 3000
|
|
Introduced the ``__prepare__`` namespace hook
|
|
|
|
|
|
Executing the class body
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
The class body is executed (approximately) as
|
|
``exec(body, globals(), namespace)``. The key difference from a normal
|
|
call to :func:`exec` is that lexical scoping allows the class body (including
|
|
any methods) to reference names from the current and outer scopes when the
|
|
class definition occurs inside a function.
|
|
|
|
However, even when the class definition occurs inside the function, methods
|
|
defined inside the class still cannot see names defined at the class scope.
|
|
Class variables must be accessed through the first parameter of instance or
|
|
class methods, and cannot be accessed at all from static methods.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Creating the class object
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
Once the class namespace has been populated by executing the class body,
|
|
the class object is created by calling
|
|
``metaclass(name, bases, namespace, **kwds)`` (the additional keywords
|
|
passed here are the same as those passed to ``__prepare__``).
|
|
|
|
This class object is the one that will be referenced by the zero-argument
|
|
form of :func:`super`. ``__class__`` is an implicit closure reference
|
|
created by the compiler if any methods in a class body refer to either
|
|
``__class__`` or ``super``. This allows the zero argument form of
|
|
:func:`super` to correctly identify the class being defined based on
|
|
lexical scoping, while the class or instance that was used to make the
|
|
current call is identified based on the first argument passed to the method.
|
|
|
|
After the class object is created, it is passed to the class decorators
|
|
included in the class definition (if any) and the resulting object is bound
|
|
in the local namespace as the defined class.
|
|
|
|
.. seealso::
|
|
|
|
:pep:`3135` - New super
|
|
Describes the implicit ``__class__`` closure reference
|
|
|
|
|
|
Metaclass example
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
The potential uses for metaclasses are boundless. Some ideas that have been
|
|
explored include logging, interface checking, automatic delegation, automatic
|
|
property creation, proxies, frameworks, and automatic resource
|
|
locking/synchronization.
|
|
|
|
Here is an example of a metaclass that uses an :class:`collections.OrderedDict`
|
|
to remember the order that class members were defined::
|
|
|
|
class OrderedClass(type):
|
|
|
|
@classmethod
|
|
def __prepare__(metacls, name, bases, **kwds):
|
|
return collections.OrderedDict()
|
|
|
|
def __new__(cls, name, bases, namespace, **kwds):
|
|
result = type.__new__(cls, name, bases, dict(namespace))
|
|
result.members = tuple(namespace)
|
|
return result
|
|
|
|
class A(metaclass=OrderedClass):
|
|
def one(self): pass
|
|
def two(self): pass
|
|
def three(self): pass
|
|
def four(self): pass
|
|
|
|
>>> A.members
|
|
('__module__', 'one', 'two', 'three', 'four')
|
|
|
|
When the class definition for *A* gets executed, the process begins with
|
|
calling the metaclass's :meth:`__prepare__` method which returns an empty
|
|
:class:`collections.OrderedDict`. That mapping records the methods and
|
|
attributes of *A* as they are defined within the body of the class statement.
|
|
Once those definitions are executed, the ordered dictionary is fully populated
|
|
and the metaclass's :meth:`__new__` method gets invoked. That method builds
|
|
the new type and it saves the ordered dictionary keys in an attribute
|
|
called ``members``.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Customizing instance and subclass checks
|
|
----------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
The following methods are used to override the default behavior of the
|
|
:func:`isinstance` and :func:`issubclass` built-in functions.
|
|
|
|
In particular, the metaclass :class:`abc.ABCMeta` implements these methods in
|
|
order to allow the addition of Abstract Base Classes (ABCs) as "virtual base
|
|
classes" to any class or type (including built-in types), including other
|
|
ABCs.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: class.__instancecheck__(self, instance)
|
|
|
|
Return true if *instance* should be considered a (direct or indirect)
|
|
instance of *class*. If defined, called to implement ``isinstance(instance,
|
|
class)``.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: class.__subclasscheck__(self, subclass)
|
|
|
|
Return true if *subclass* should be considered a (direct or indirect)
|
|
subclass of *class*. If defined, called to implement ``issubclass(subclass,
|
|
class)``.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Note that these methods are looked up on the type (metaclass) of a class. They
|
|
cannot be defined as class methods in the actual class. This is consistent with
|
|
the lookup of special methods that are called on instances, only in this
|
|
case the instance is itself a class.
|
|
|
|
.. seealso::
|
|
|
|
:pep:`3119` - Introducing Abstract Base Classes
|
|
Includes the specification for customizing :func:`isinstance` and
|
|
:func:`issubclass` behavior through :meth:`~class.__instancecheck__` and
|
|
:meth:`~class.__subclasscheck__`, with motivation for this functionality
|
|
in the context of adding Abstract Base Classes (see the :mod:`abc`
|
|
module) to the language.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _callable-types:
|
|
|
|
Emulating callable objects
|
|
--------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__call__(self[, args...])
|
|
|
|
.. index:: pair: call; instance
|
|
|
|
Called when the instance is "called" as a function; if this method is defined,
|
|
``x(arg1, arg2, ...)`` is a shorthand for ``x.__call__(arg1, arg2, ...)``.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _sequence-types:
|
|
|
|
Emulating container types
|
|
-------------------------
|
|
|
|
The following methods can be defined to implement container objects. Containers
|
|
usually are sequences (such as lists or tuples) or mappings (like dictionaries),
|
|
but can represent other containers as well. The first set of methods is used
|
|
either to emulate a sequence or to emulate a mapping; the difference is that for
|
|
a sequence, the allowable keys should be the integers *k* for which ``0 <= k <
|
|
N`` where *N* is the length of the sequence, or slice objects, which define a
|
|
range of items. It is also recommended that mappings provide the methods
|
|
:meth:`keys`, :meth:`values`, :meth:`items`, :meth:`get`, :meth:`clear`,
|
|
:meth:`setdefault`, :meth:`pop`, :meth:`popitem`, :meth:`!copy`, and
|
|
:meth:`update` behaving similar to those for Python's standard dictionary
|
|
objects. The :mod:`collections` module provides a
|
|
:class:`~collections.abc.MutableMapping`
|
|
abstract base class to help create those methods from a base set of
|
|
:meth:`__getitem__`, :meth:`__setitem__`, :meth:`__delitem__`, and :meth:`keys`.
|
|
Mutable sequences should provide methods :meth:`append`, :meth:`count`,
|
|
:meth:`index`, :meth:`extend`, :meth:`insert`, :meth:`pop`, :meth:`remove`,
|
|
:meth:`reverse` and :meth:`sort`, like Python standard list objects. Finally,
|
|
sequence types should implement addition (meaning concatenation) and
|
|
multiplication (meaning repetition) by defining the methods :meth:`__add__`,
|
|
:meth:`__radd__`, :meth:`__iadd__`, :meth:`__mul__`, :meth:`__rmul__` and
|
|
:meth:`__imul__` described below; they should not define other numerical
|
|
operators. It is recommended that both mappings and sequences implement the
|
|
:meth:`__contains__` method to allow efficient use of the ``in`` operator; for
|
|
mappings, ``in`` should search the mapping's keys; for sequences, it should
|
|
search through the values. It is further recommended that both mappings and
|
|
sequences implement the :meth:`__iter__` method to allow efficient iteration
|
|
through the container; for mappings, :meth:`__iter__` should be the same as
|
|
:meth:`keys`; for sequences, it should iterate through the values.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__len__(self)
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
builtin: len
|
|
single: __bool__() (object method)
|
|
|
|
Called to implement the built-in function :func:`len`. Should return the length
|
|
of the object, an integer ``>=`` 0. Also, an object that doesn't define a
|
|
:meth:`__bool__` method and whose :meth:`__len__` method returns zero is
|
|
considered to be false in a Boolean context.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__length_hint__(self)
|
|
|
|
Called to implement :func:`operator.length_hint`. Should return an estimated
|
|
length for the object (which may be greater or less than the actual length).
|
|
The length must be an integer ``>=`` 0. This method is purely an
|
|
optimization and is never required for correctness.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 3.4
|
|
|
|
.. note::
|
|
|
|
Slicing is done exclusively with the following three methods. A call like ::
|
|
|
|
a[1:2] = b
|
|
|
|
is translated to ::
|
|
|
|
a[slice(1, 2, None)] = b
|
|
|
|
and so forth. Missing slice items are always filled in with ``None``.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__getitem__(self, key)
|
|
|
|
.. index:: object: slice
|
|
|
|
Called to implement evaluation of ``self[key]``. For sequence types, the
|
|
accepted keys should be integers and slice objects. Note that the special
|
|
interpretation of negative indexes (if the class wishes to emulate a sequence
|
|
type) is up to the :meth:`__getitem__` method. If *key* is of an inappropriate
|
|
type, :exc:`TypeError` may be raised; if of a value outside the set of indexes
|
|
for the sequence (after any special interpretation of negative values),
|
|
:exc:`IndexError` should be raised. For mapping types, if *key* is missing (not
|
|
in the container), :exc:`KeyError` should be raised.
|
|
|
|
.. note::
|
|
|
|
:keyword:`for` loops expect that an :exc:`IndexError` will be raised for illegal
|
|
indexes to allow proper detection of the end of the sequence.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__setitem__(self, key, value)
|
|
|
|
Called to implement assignment to ``self[key]``. Same note as for
|
|
:meth:`__getitem__`. This should only be implemented for mappings if the
|
|
objects support changes to the values for keys, or if new keys can be added, or
|
|
for sequences if elements can be replaced. The same exceptions should be raised
|
|
for improper *key* values as for the :meth:`__getitem__` method.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__delitem__(self, key)
|
|
|
|
Called to implement deletion of ``self[key]``. Same note as for
|
|
:meth:`__getitem__`. This should only be implemented for mappings if the
|
|
objects support removal of keys, or for sequences if elements can be removed
|
|
from the sequence. The same exceptions should be raised for improper *key*
|
|
values as for the :meth:`__getitem__` method.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__iter__(self)
|
|
|
|
This method is called when an iterator is required for a container. This method
|
|
should return a new iterator object that can iterate over all the objects in the
|
|
container. For mappings, it should iterate over the keys of the container, and
|
|
should also be made available as the method :meth:`keys`.
|
|
|
|
Iterator objects also need to implement this method; they are required to return
|
|
themselves. For more information on iterator objects, see :ref:`typeiter`.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__reversed__(self)
|
|
|
|
Called (if present) by the :func:`reversed` built-in to implement
|
|
reverse iteration. It should return a new iterator object that iterates
|
|
over all the objects in the container in reverse order.
|
|
|
|
If the :meth:`__reversed__` method is not provided, the :func:`reversed`
|
|
built-in will fall back to using the sequence protocol (:meth:`__len__` and
|
|
:meth:`__getitem__`). Objects that support the sequence protocol should
|
|
only provide :meth:`__reversed__` if they can provide an implementation
|
|
that is more efficient than the one provided by :func:`reversed`.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The membership test operators (:keyword:`in` and :keyword:`not in`) are normally
|
|
implemented as an iteration through a sequence. However, container objects can
|
|
supply the following special method with a more efficient implementation, which
|
|
also does not require the object be a sequence.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__contains__(self, item)
|
|
|
|
Called to implement membership test operators. Should return true if *item*
|
|
is in *self*, false otherwise. For mapping objects, this should consider the
|
|
keys of the mapping rather than the values or the key-item pairs.
|
|
|
|
For objects that don't define :meth:`__contains__`, the membership test first
|
|
tries iteration via :meth:`__iter__`, then the old sequence iteration
|
|
protocol via :meth:`__getitem__`, see :ref:`this section in the language
|
|
reference <membership-test-details>`.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _numeric-types:
|
|
|
|
Emulating numeric types
|
|
-----------------------
|
|
|
|
The following methods can be defined to emulate numeric objects. Methods
|
|
corresponding to operations that are not supported by the particular kind of
|
|
number implemented (e.g., bitwise operations for non-integral numbers) should be
|
|
left undefined.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__add__(self, other)
|
|
object.__sub__(self, other)
|
|
object.__mul__(self, other)
|
|
object.__truediv__(self, other)
|
|
object.__floordiv__(self, other)
|
|
object.__mod__(self, other)
|
|
object.__divmod__(self, other)
|
|
object.__pow__(self, other[, modulo])
|
|
object.__lshift__(self, other)
|
|
object.__rshift__(self, other)
|
|
object.__and__(self, other)
|
|
object.__xor__(self, other)
|
|
object.__or__(self, other)
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
builtin: divmod
|
|
builtin: pow
|
|
builtin: pow
|
|
|
|
These methods are called to implement the binary arithmetic operations (``+``,
|
|
``-``, ``*``, ``/``, ``//``, ``%``, :func:`divmod`, :func:`pow`, ``**``, ``<<``,
|
|
``>>``, ``&``, ``^``, ``|``). For instance, to evaluate the expression
|
|
``x + y``, where *x* is an instance of a class that has an :meth:`__add__`
|
|
method, ``x.__add__(y)`` is called. The :meth:`__divmod__` method should be the
|
|
equivalent to using :meth:`__floordiv__` and :meth:`__mod__`; it should not be
|
|
related to :meth:`__truediv__`. Note that :meth:`__pow__` should be defined
|
|
to accept an optional third argument if the ternary version of the built-in
|
|
:func:`pow` function is to be supported.
|
|
|
|
If one of those methods does not support the operation with the supplied
|
|
arguments, it should return ``NotImplemented``.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__radd__(self, other)
|
|
object.__rsub__(self, other)
|
|
object.__rmul__(self, other)
|
|
object.__rtruediv__(self, other)
|
|
object.__rfloordiv__(self, other)
|
|
object.__rmod__(self, other)
|
|
object.__rdivmod__(self, other)
|
|
object.__rpow__(self, other)
|
|
object.__rlshift__(self, other)
|
|
object.__rrshift__(self, other)
|
|
object.__rand__(self, other)
|
|
object.__rxor__(self, other)
|
|
object.__ror__(self, other)
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
builtin: divmod
|
|
builtin: pow
|
|
|
|
These methods are called to implement the binary arithmetic operations (``+``,
|
|
``-``, ``*``, ``/``, ``//``, ``%``, :func:`divmod`, :func:`pow`, ``**``,
|
|
``<<``, ``>>``, ``&``, ``^``, ``|``) with reflected (swapped) operands.
|
|
These functions are only called if the left operand does not support the
|
|
corresponding operation and the operands are of different types. [#]_ For
|
|
instance, to evaluate the expression ``x - y``, where *y* is an instance of
|
|
a class that has an :meth:`__rsub__` method, ``y.__rsub__(x)`` is called if
|
|
``x.__sub__(y)`` returns *NotImplemented*.
|
|
|
|
.. index:: builtin: pow
|
|
|
|
Note that ternary :func:`pow` will not try calling :meth:`__rpow__` (the
|
|
coercion rules would become too complicated).
|
|
|
|
.. note::
|
|
|
|
If the right operand's type is a subclass of the left operand's type and that
|
|
subclass provides the reflected method for the operation, this method will be
|
|
called before the left operand's non-reflected method. This behavior allows
|
|
subclasses to override their ancestors' operations.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__iadd__(self, other)
|
|
object.__isub__(self, other)
|
|
object.__imul__(self, other)
|
|
object.__itruediv__(self, other)
|
|
object.__ifloordiv__(self, other)
|
|
object.__imod__(self, other)
|
|
object.__ipow__(self, other[, modulo])
|
|
object.__ilshift__(self, other)
|
|
object.__irshift__(self, other)
|
|
object.__iand__(self, other)
|
|
object.__ixor__(self, other)
|
|
object.__ior__(self, other)
|
|
|
|
These methods are called to implement the augmented arithmetic assignments
|
|
(``+=``, ``-=``, ``*=``, ``/=``, ``//=``, ``%=``, ``**=``, ``<<=``, ``>>=``,
|
|
``&=``, ``^=``, ``|=``). These methods should attempt to do the operation
|
|
in-place (modifying *self*) and return the result (which could be, but does
|
|
not have to be, *self*). If a specific method is not defined, the augmented
|
|
assignment falls back to the normal methods. For instance, if *x* is an
|
|
instance of a class with an :meth:`__iadd__` method, ``x += y`` is equivalent
|
|
to ``x = x.__iadd__(y)`` . Otherwise, ``x.__add__(y)`` and ``y.__radd__(x)``
|
|
are considered, as with the evaluation of ``x + y``. In certain situations,
|
|
augmented assignment can result in unexpected errors (see
|
|
:ref:`faq-augmented-assignment-tuple-error`), but this behavior is in
|
|
fact part of the data model.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__neg__(self)
|
|
object.__pos__(self)
|
|
object.__abs__(self)
|
|
object.__invert__(self)
|
|
|
|
.. index:: builtin: abs
|
|
|
|
Called to implement the unary arithmetic operations (``-``, ``+``, :func:`abs`
|
|
and ``~``).
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__complex__(self)
|
|
object.__int__(self)
|
|
object.__float__(self)
|
|
object.__round__(self, [,n])
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
builtin: complex
|
|
builtin: int
|
|
builtin: float
|
|
builtin: round
|
|
|
|
Called to implement the built-in functions :func:`complex`,
|
|
:func:`int`, :func:`float` and :func:`round`. Should return a value
|
|
of the appropriate type.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__index__(self)
|
|
|
|
Called to implement :func:`operator.index`, and whenever Python needs to
|
|
losslessly convert the numeric object to an integer object (such as in
|
|
slicing, or in the built-in :func:`bin`, :func:`hex` and :func:`oct`
|
|
functions). Presence of this method indicates that the numeric object is
|
|
an integer type. Must return an integer.
|
|
|
|
.. note::
|
|
|
|
When :meth:`__index__` is defined, :meth:`__int__` should also be defined,
|
|
and both shuld return the same value, in order to have a coherent integer
|
|
type class.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _context-managers:
|
|
|
|
With Statement Context Managers
|
|
-------------------------------
|
|
|
|
A :dfn:`context manager` is an object that defines the runtime context to be
|
|
established when executing a :keyword:`with` statement. The context manager
|
|
handles the entry into, and the exit from, the desired runtime context for the
|
|
execution of the block of code. Context managers are normally invoked using the
|
|
:keyword:`with` statement (described in section :ref:`with`), but can also be
|
|
used by directly invoking their methods.
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
statement: with
|
|
single: context manager
|
|
|
|
Typical uses of context managers include saving and restoring various kinds of
|
|
global state, locking and unlocking resources, closing opened files, etc.
|
|
|
|
For more information on context managers, see :ref:`typecontextmanager`.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__enter__(self)
|
|
|
|
Enter the runtime context related to this object. The :keyword:`with` statement
|
|
will bind this method's return value to the target(s) specified in the
|
|
:keyword:`as` clause of the statement, if any.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: object.__exit__(self, exc_type, exc_value, traceback)
|
|
|
|
Exit the runtime context related to this object. The parameters describe the
|
|
exception that caused the context to be exited. If the context was exited
|
|
without an exception, all three arguments will be :const:`None`.
|
|
|
|
If an exception is supplied, and the method wishes to suppress the exception
|
|
(i.e., prevent it from being propagated), it should return a true value.
|
|
Otherwise, the exception will be processed normally upon exit from this method.
|
|
|
|
Note that :meth:`__exit__` methods should not reraise the passed-in exception;
|
|
this is the caller's responsibility.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. seealso::
|
|
|
|
:pep:`0343` - The "with" statement
|
|
The specification, background, and examples for the Python :keyword:`with`
|
|
statement.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _special-lookup:
|
|
|
|
Special method lookup
|
|
---------------------
|
|
|
|
For custom classes, implicit invocations of special methods are only guaranteed
|
|
to work correctly if defined on an object's type, not in the object's instance
|
|
dictionary. That behaviour is the reason why the following code raises an
|
|
exception::
|
|
|
|
>>> class C:
|
|
... pass
|
|
...
|
|
>>> c = C()
|
|
>>> c.__len__ = lambda: 5
|
|
>>> len(c)
|
|
Traceback (most recent call last):
|
|
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
|
|
TypeError: object of type 'C' has no len()
|
|
|
|
The rationale behind this behaviour lies with a number of special methods such
|
|
as :meth:`__hash__` and :meth:`__repr__` that are implemented by all objects,
|
|
including type objects. If the implicit lookup of these methods used the
|
|
conventional lookup process, they would fail when invoked on the type object
|
|
itself::
|
|
|
|
>>> 1 .__hash__() == hash(1)
|
|
True
|
|
>>> int.__hash__() == hash(int)
|
|
Traceback (most recent call last):
|
|
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
|
|
TypeError: descriptor '__hash__' of 'int' object needs an argument
|
|
|
|
Incorrectly attempting to invoke an unbound method of a class in this way is
|
|
sometimes referred to as 'metaclass confusion', and is avoided by bypassing
|
|
the instance when looking up special methods::
|
|
|
|
>>> type(1).__hash__(1) == hash(1)
|
|
True
|
|
>>> type(int).__hash__(int) == hash(int)
|
|
True
|
|
|
|
In addition to bypassing any instance attributes in the interest of
|
|
correctness, implicit special method lookup generally also bypasses the
|
|
:meth:`__getattribute__` method even of the object's metaclass::
|
|
|
|
>>> class Meta(type):
|
|
... def __getattribute__(*args):
|
|
... print("Metaclass getattribute invoked")
|
|
... return type.__getattribute__(*args)
|
|
...
|
|
>>> class C(object, metaclass=Meta):
|
|
... def __len__(self):
|
|
... return 10
|
|
... def __getattribute__(*args):
|
|
... print("Class getattribute invoked")
|
|
... return object.__getattribute__(*args)
|
|
...
|
|
>>> c = C()
|
|
>>> c.__len__() # Explicit lookup via instance
|
|
Class getattribute invoked
|
|
10
|
|
>>> type(c).__len__(c) # Explicit lookup via type
|
|
Metaclass getattribute invoked
|
|
10
|
|
>>> len(c) # Implicit lookup
|
|
10
|
|
|
|
Bypassing the :meth:`__getattribute__` machinery in this fashion
|
|
provides significant scope for speed optimisations within the
|
|
interpreter, at the cost of some flexibility in the handling of
|
|
special methods (the special method *must* be set on the class
|
|
object itself in order to be consistently invoked by the interpreter).
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. rubric:: Footnotes
|
|
|
|
.. [#] It *is* possible in some cases to change an object's type, under certain
|
|
controlled conditions. It generally isn't a good idea though, since it can
|
|
lead to some very strange behaviour if it is handled incorrectly.
|
|
|
|
.. [#] For operands of the same type, it is assumed that if the non-reflected method
|
|
(such as :meth:`__add__`) fails the operation is not supported, which is why the
|
|
reflected method is not called.
|