On 2012-11-26, at 07:54 , Nick Coghlan wrote: > On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 3:01 PM, Chris Jerdonek > <chris.jerdo...@gmail.com>wrote: > >> I would like to know when we should use "class" in the Python 3 >> documentation, and when we should use "type." Are these terms >> synonymous in Python 3, and do we have a preference for which to use >> and when? >> >> I'm sure this has been discussed before. But if this terminology >> issue has already been resolved, the resolution doesn't seem to be >> reflected in the docs. For example, the glossary entries for type and >> class don't reference each other. >> > > The historical distinction between "builtin types" and "user-defined > classes" predates new-style classes (which unified the type system) and > Python 3 (which eliminated the "instance" type that was provided to > preserve the legacy user-defined class semantics in Python 2). The glossary > unfortunately still reflects this distinction, which no longer exists in > Python 3. > > A slightly more useful distinction would be if type was used consistently > to refer to type(x), while class was used to refer to x.__class__, since > they can and do differ in the case of proxy types (like weakref.proxy). > However, it's probably too late for that kind of fine distinction - in > reality, the two terms are now used pretty much interchangeably.
There's an other possible usage which is between `type` subclasses and `type` instances (`type` essentially becomes a synonym for `metaclass`), I've seen that kind of usage at least once in the docs: http://docs.python.org/2/c-api/object.html#PyObject_IsInstance > If cls is a type object rather than a class object, PyObject_IsInstance() > returns 1 if inst is of type cls. _______________________________________________ Python-Dev mailing list Python-Dev@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-dev Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-dev/archive%40mail-archive.com
