[Python-Dev] Re: 2.2=>2.3 object.__setattr__(cls,attr,value)

[Guido van Rossum]

> In article <1069214841.6983.59.camel at localhost.localdomain>,
>  Jeremy Hylton <jeremy at alum.mit.edu> wrote:
> 
> > The change was reported on python-dev, but apparently got left out of
> > the NEWS file.  Here are the details:
> > http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2003-April/034605.html

[Good sleuthing, Jeremy!]

> Thanks!  Now that you mention it, I vaguely remember something of that 
> discussion.  But the messages there seem to be mostly or entirely about 
> preventing __setattr__ on built-in types (justifiably called "evil" in 
> the thread) while the code I needed this for was to do it on my own 
> types.  Was there some other discussion about preventing 
> object.__setattr__ on non-builtins or was this just an unintended 
> consequence?  Not that it matters much now, it's done...

Blame it on Carlo Verre. :-)

The fix requires that whenever a built-in type derived from object
overrides __setattr__, you cannot call object.__setattr__ directly,
but must use the more derived built-in type's __setattr__.  This is
reasonable IMO, and is now enforced in 2.2.x as well.

> Of course, all of this has led me to realize that my code was 
> unnecessarily obscure: I should have just used setattr(cls,...)

:-)

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)