[Python-Dev] SF #805304: bug or feature?

[Raymond Hettinger]

Fred reported that super objects don't respond well to language constructs
that bypass attribute lookup.   For example, supobj.__setitem__(name,value) 
works if __setitem__() is defined in the target, but supobj[name]=value
will raise a TypeError.      www.python.org/sf/805304

Once the fix is approved, there is a question of whether it should
be backported.  The case against it is that some programs written 
under Py2.3.1 or Py2.2.4 won't run on Py2.3.0 or Py2.2.3 and the 
patch can be viewed as an API expansion.  The other point of view
is that super objects should have always behaved this way and that
the patch just fixes buggy behavior.


Raymond