OOP / language design question

[Lawrence D'Oliveiro]

In article <Xns97B092B9B6512duncanbooth at 127.0.0.1>,
 Duncan Booth <duncan.booth at invalid.invalid> wrote:

>Carl Banks wrote:
>
>> You know, Python's __init__ has almost the same semantics as C++
>> constructors (they both initialize something that's already been
>> allocated in memory, and neither can return a substitute object). 
>
>There is a significant difference: imagine B is a base type and C a 
>subclass of B:
>
>When you create an object of type C in Python, while B.__init__ is 
>executing self is an object of type C (albeit without all the attributes 
>you expect on your C).
>
>In C++ when the B() constructor is executing the object is an object of 
>type B. It doesn't become a C object until the C() constructor is 
>executing.
>
>In other words, the object is constructed in Python before any __init__ is 
>called, but in C++ it isn't constructed until after all the base class 
>constructors have returned.

But if "construction" is what a constructor does, then you're wrong.