metaclasses vs. inheritance

[Aldo Cortesi]

Thus spake Ian McMeans (imcmeans at home.com):

> Can someone give an example of a problem that is solved
> with metaclasses, which would be difficult or impossible
> to solve with inheritance?


There are some things that can only be done with metaclasses
- changing the text representation of a class, for instance.


class Extended(type):
    def __repr__(self):
        attrs = []
        for i in dir(self):
            attrs.append("%-20s\t\t%s" % (i, type(self.__getattribute__(self, i))))
        return "%s:\n\t%s" % (type.__repr__(self), "\n\t".join(attrs))
                                            
class Foo(object): 
    __metaclass__ = Extended
    pass
print Foo



Baroque, I know, but it illustrates the point. 



> PS - what's the antonym of meta?

Hmmm... the meta- in "metaclass" or "metaphysics" really has
no relation to the original Greek, which means "with", or
"among" (as in "metatarsus" - the bones in the foot which
lie next to the tarsus). So whatever antonym you come up
with can't have anything to do with the original etymology
of the prefix...  Erm... How about mundane? Or actual?
Intrinsic? Essential? Or even "per se"....?




Cheers,




Aldo





-- 
Aldo Cortesi
aldo at nullcube.com