[Python-ideas] Add a dict with the attribute access capability

[Serhiy Storchaka]

In 3.7 I have removed an old-deprecated plistlib.Dict. [1] Actually it 
already was deprecated when the plistlib module was added to the regular 
stdlib in Python 2.6.

This is a dict subclass which allows to access items as attributes.

d = plistlib.Dict()
d['a'] = 1
assert d.a == 1
d.b = 2
assert d['b'] == 2

Raymond noticed that that capability seemed nice to have.

What do you think about reviving this type as general purpose type in 
collections or types? Perhaps it can be convenient for working with 
JSON, plists, configuration files, databases and in other cases that 
need a dict with string keys.

If reintroduce it, there are open questions.

1. The name of the type.

2. The location of the type. collections or types? Or other variants?

3. How it will collaborate with OrderedDict, defaultdict, etc?

4. Should it be a dict subclass, or a mixin, or a proxy? Or add several 
types?


[1] https://bugs.python.org/issue29196