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

[Jim Jewett]

On 4/26/07, Guido van Rossum <guido at python.org> wrote:

> In [Emin's] version one has to repeat "AbstractBaseClass" each
> time a class contains (or inherits) abstract methods.

His modified proposal is better, though perhaps still too complicated.

You must declare a class abstract *either* by explicitly marking it,
*or* by including an abstract method.  (Maybe it should be any
attribute, not just methods.)

This would make it more obvious that, say, an IterableMapping still
has some abstract methods that you need to override before you're
done.

On the other hand, what I would really want to see is the list of
missing methods (next and getitem; possibly iter); maybe this sort of
de-abstraction should be left to an IDE for now.

-jJ