__metaclass__ and __author__ are already decorators

[Paolo Veronelli]

Paul Morrow wrote:
> Paolo Veronelli wrote:
> 
>>
>>
>> Paul Morrow wrote:
>>
>>> Thinking about decorators, and looking at what we are already doing 
>>> in our Python code, it seems that __metaclass__, __author__, 
>>> __version__, etc. are all examples of decorators.  So we already have 
>>> a decorator syntax.  What is the compelling reason to invent a new 
>>> one?  And if we do, what's to become of the old one?

>>
>>     Thanks for pointing out another unpythonicity. Paolino
>>
> 
> Is that what I did?  Isn't assigning values to __xxx__ attributes 
> pythonic?  

Really but instructing the interpreter with assigning to special 
attributes is not a well classified operation:

__author__ & company are just settable/gettable (the don't instruct the 
interpreter)  this is surface  level.

__getitem__ (in ex)  instruct the intepreter on how to parse [] sintax 
(am I wrong?).So __lt__ and the alike :that's what I call a syntactic 
level.This is more or less well defined (and so pythonic):operators can 
be defined like this.

__metaclass__  doesn't seem to be placed in the first two categories.It 
instruct the interpreter on a deeper level (in my vision),an actual 
level which I think is well related with decorator level.If I am 
right,this speciality of an only attribute makes it unpythonic.It has to 
be part of a class
of attributes ,which would be nice to be  populated just (at least) to 
make its instructing position clearer.

I hope I could express something.....

		Regards Paolino