Tuesday 10:50 a.m.–11:20 a.m.

What Is and What Can Be: An Exploration from `type` to Metaclasses

Dustin Ingram

Audience level:: Intermediate
Category:: Python Core (language, stdlib, etc.)

Description

Most of us use `type` every day, but few can say they know it well. This talk explores `type` and along the way, reveals how it relates to `object`, `class` and more, eventually arriving at deeper understanding of metaclasses in Python.

Abstract

Most of us use type every day, but few can say they know it well. This talk begins with the question: "Why can't we do j = object(); j.hi = 'there'?"

type

Type in a general sense is a fundamental part of any language, but often we only need to scratch the surface of type in everyday Python. When we look deeper, we realize that type is a the center of nearly everything in Python!

Metaclasses

Metaclasses can easily be dismissed as being too complex to be fully understood by the average Pythonista, but this talk shows that with a better understanding of type, metaclasses can easily be "de-mystified" and made into yet another tool in the toolbox of Python.