Making immutable instances

[bonono at gmail.com]

Mike Meyer wrote:
> Built-in types don't have a real dictionary. They have a C struct that
> holds the various methods.  The entries in the struct are called
> "slots", hence the __slots__ magic attribute. That __slots__ makes it
> impossible to add an attribute is documented as an implementation
> detail. This makes me think that the same restriction on the builtin
> types is the same.
>
> FWIW, dir returns a list built from a number of source. But if you
> look at, for example, list.__dict__, you'll notice that it's not a
> dict.
>
Well, in this case, would it be simple for the OP that if he wants to
disallow this attaching additional things, just use __slot__.

What I wan to say though is, if we can live with the inability of not
able to attach to built-in types, why is it so difficult for other user
defined class ? If the authors go to the length of not allowing it, so
be it. They are afterall define it for their use and how someone else
will use it don't matter.