[Python-Dev] For Python 3k, drop default/implicit hash, and comparison

[John Williams]

(This is kind of on a tangent to the original discussion, but I don't 
want to create yet another subject line about object comparisons.)

Lately I've found that virtually all my implementations of __cmp__, 
__hash__, etc. can be factored into this form inspired by the "key" 
parameter to the built-in sorting functions:

class MyClass:

   def __key(self):
     # Return a tuple of attributes to compare.
     return (self.foo, self.bar, ...)

   def __cmp__(self, that):
     return cmp(self.__key(), that.__key())

   def __hash__(self):
     return hash(self.__key())

I wonder if it wouldn't make sense to formalize this pattern with a 
magic __key__ method such that a class with a __key__ method would 
behave as if it had interited the definitions of __cmp__ and __hash__ above.

This scheme would eliminate the tedium of keeping the __hash__ method in 
sync with the __cmp__/__eq__ method, and writing a __key__ method would 
involve writing less code than a naive __eq__ method, since each 
attribute name only needs to be mentioned once instead of appearing on 
either side of a "==" expression.

On the other hand, this idea doesn't work in all situations (for 
instance, I don't think you could define the default __cmp__/__hash__ 
semantics in terms of __key__), it would only eliminate two one-line 
methods for each class, and it would further complicate the "==" 
operator (__key__, falling back to __eq__, falling back to __cmp__, 
falling back to object identity--ouch!)

If anyone thinks this is a good idea I'll investiate how many places in 
the standard library this pattern would apply.

--jw