Problems with properties

[Alex Martelli]

Michael Schneider <michaelschneider at fuse.net> wrote:

> Thanks to all,  I added the object as a subclass (should this be 
> required for 2.4.1 ???)

It _IS_ required, because Python these days moves *very slowly indeed*
before changing semantics of existing code in any way that is not
backwards compatible -- we just don't want to break good working code,
and there are many millions of lines' worth of such Python code in use
around the world.  The newstyle object model cannot have identical
semantics to the legacy (AKA "classic") one, so it can't become the
default without LOTS AND LOTS of years spent with the old-style mode
being discouraged and deprecated... but STILL the default.

As usual, "should" is a harder question to answer -- one might
reasonably say that maintainers of legacy code have had PLENTY of
warning time by now, and newstyle OM "should" become the default by,
say, 2.6, rather than waiting for 3.0.  But, that's not an easy issue to
call!


Alex