[ python-Bugs-960340 ] Poor documentation of new-style classes

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Bugs item #960340, was opened at 2004-05-25 14:30
Message generated for change (Comment added) made by rhettinger
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Category: Documentation
Group: Python 2.3
Status: Open
Resolution: None
Priority: 5
Submitted By: Hallvard B Furuseth (hfuru)
Assigned to: Nobody/Anonymous (nobody)
Summary: Poor documentation of new-style classes

Initial Comment:
The Python Reference Manual (info file python-ref)
talks a lot about new-style classes, but does
not say what they are, except in a brief note
buried in node 'Coercion rules'.  The library
reference does say that object() creates such
classes, that too lacks a way to look up
'new-style classes' and find object().

Also, since 'object' is a type, it seems strange
that the Library Reference has it in the
'Built-in Functions' node instead of a node
about (callable) types.  The same applies to
several other types.  If you want to keep them
there, at least add index entries for them in
the Class-Exception-Object Index.

This refers to the doc in info-2.3.3.tar.bz2
from <http://docs.python.org/download.html>.


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>Comment By: Raymond Hettinger (rhettinger)
Date: 2004-05-25 23:45

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The glossary in the tutorial was added to meet this need.

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Comment By: Jim Jewett (jimjjewett)
Date: 2004-05-25 17:13

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object() doesn't create a new-style class; it creates an 
instance of class object.

Note that the definition of a new-style class is just a class 
inheriting from object, so object itself is a new-style class.

That said, the distributed documentation should probably have 
something more about "new-style" vs "old-style" classes, and 
should have a reference in the index.

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