[New-bugs-announce] [issue5229] Documentation for super() neglects to say what super() actually does

[Daniel Stutzbach]

New submission from Daniel Stutzbach <daniel at stutzbachenterprises.com>:

The documentation for super() describes the arguments that can be passed
to super(), use cases for super(), an example, and caveats about what
cannot be done with the returned object.  However, the documentation
neglects to mention what super() actually *does*, except for the
circular definition in the first line: "Return a super object that acts
as a proxy to superclasses of type."

Worse still, the definition in the first line is incorrect, since it may
proxy any type in the type hierarchy (not necessarily a superclass).

I found this webpage helpful for understanding what super() actually
does: http://fuhm.net/super-harmful/

I would submit a suggested improvement to the documentation, but I do
not really understand what super() does when the second argument is
omitted or a class.

----------
assignee: georg.brandl
components: Documentation
messages: 81804
nosy: georg.brandl, stutzbach
severity: normal
status: open
title: Documentation for super() neglects to say what super() actually does
versions: Python 2.6, Python 2.7, Python 3.0, Python 3.1

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Python tracker <report at bugs.python.org>
<http://bugs.python.org/issue5229>
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