Classic Classes
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Classic Classes

This is a note about classic classes in Python. We can create classes of the old (pre 2.2) kind by using a plain class statement.

Example 3.2. Examining classic classes

>>> class ClassicClass: 1
...     pass
...
>>> type(ClassicClass) 2
<type 'classobj'>
>>> import types
>>> types.ClassType is type(ClassicClass) 3
True
>>> types.ClassType.__class__ 4
<type 'type'>
>>> types.ClassType.__bases__ 5
(<type 'object'>,)

1

A class statement specifying no bases creates a classic class Remember that to create a new-style class you must specify object as the base (although this is not required in Python 3.0 since new-style classes are the default). Specifying only classic classes as bases also creates a classic class. Specifying both classic and new-style classes as bases create a new-style class.

2

Its type is an object we haven't seen before (in this book).

3

The type of classic classes is an object called types.ClassType.

4 5

It looks and smells like just another type object.

The types.ClassType object is in some ways an alternative <type 'type'>. Instances of this object (classic classes) are types themselves. The rules of attribute access are different for classic classes and new-style classes. The types.ClassType object exists for backward compatibility and may not exist in future versions of Python. Other sections of this book should not be applied to classic classes.

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That's all, folks!

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