[Python-3000] Generic function PEP won't make it in time

[Phillip J. Eby]

At 04:35 PM 4/23/2007 +0100, Paul Moore wrote:
>If the basic stuff really is that simple, I'd love to see just that
>for now. It would put the advanced stuff into context when it finally
>arrived.

Here you go:


   from overloading import overload, abstract

   def foo(bar, baz):
       """Default implementation here"""


   @overload
   def foo(bar:int, baz:str):
       """Overloaded implementation for int/str here"""


   @abstract
   def spam(fizz):
       """This function has no default implementation, and raises
          a "no applicable methods" error if called..."""

   @overload
   def spam(fizz:list):
       """...unless an appropriate overload is added first"""


Any questions?  :)

Miscellaneous notes/points for discussion:

* Names/locations of errors to be raised when methods aren't found or are 
ambiguous (e.g. should they be (or subclass) NotImplementedError?  TypeError?)

* Notice that it's not necessary to specially declare a function as being 
"generic"; you can therefore overload an existing function, classmethod, 
staticmethod, etc., and the existing function object is just modified in-place.

* CLOS/AspectJ-style method combination is supported, using @before, 
@after, and @around decorators.

That's pretty much it, for the generic function part.  The interface part 
looks like the "recombinable interfaces" one I previously posted, where you 
simply subclass Interface, and you don't have to write any adapter classes, 
because the interface is its own adapter class.  You just register methods 
for stuff.

I would also propose an 'implements' class keyword argument that asks the 
interface objects its been given in order to register the class.  In the 
case of overloading.Interface, that would be done by registering the class' 
methods of matching names with the generic functions embedded in the 
Interface, but other interface implementations might work differently.

There are perhaps a few more details or features visible at this user 
level, but all the
"interesting" stuff (i.e. wizardry and defense against the dark arts) takes 
place under the hood.  Specifically, how to make all this such that 
advanced or customized dispatch systems and interfaces can play in the same 
playground, being able to use the *same decorators* and "implements" 
keyword, so that systems like PEAK-Rules and zope.interface won't appear to 
be second-class citizens.