[Python-Dev] Type/class (original) (raw)

Thomas Heller thomas.heller@ion-tof.com
Fri, 11 May 2001 17:40:10 +0200

Reading up on MetaClasses in Smalltalk again makes me appreciate the simplicity of a prototype system where everything is just an object -- all objects can be cloned, and some objects are only used for cloning -- they are the exemplars of their type which fill the role of Classes.

Unfortunately, although prototypes would be a lot simpler, it would be a pretty incompatible change for Python -- I can't think of any way to get there without a lot of breakage. (Still -- I wonder if there's a way they could be used under the covers in the implementation to make it simpler. Prototype semantics are basically a superset of Class based semantics, which is how it was easy to do Smalltalk in Self.)

I never looked at Self or other prototype based systems. Is it really true that prototypes are a lot simpler than metaclasses, but on the other hand more powerful?

The 'brain exploding properties' of metaclasses are IMO only there because my brain cannot think easily in too many recursion steps...

Thomas