X class missing in Python :-) - Re: What's going on here?

[robert]

John Machin wrote:
> robert wrote:
>> Dale Strickland-Clark wrote:
>>> Python 2.4.2 (#1, Oct 13 2006, 17:11:24)
>>> [GCC 4.1.0 (SUSE Linux)] on linux2
>>> Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>>>> a = object()
>>>>>> a
>>> <object object at 0xb7bbd438>
>>>>>> a.spam = 1
>>> Traceback (most recent call last):
>>>   File "<stdin>", line 1, in ?
>>> AttributeError: 'object' object has no attribute 'spam'
>>>>>> class b(object):
>>> ...    pass
>>> ...
>>>>>> a = b()
>>>>>> a
>>> <__main__.b object at 0xb7b4dcac>
>>>>>> a.spam = 1
>>>>>>
>>> What is subclassing adding to the class here? Why can't I assign to
>>> attributes of an instance of object?
>>
>> Python sooooo dynamic, but it lacks a (builtin) X-class ready for ad-hoc usage just like dict() :-)
>> I have in almost every app/toolcore-module this one:
>>
>> ------
>>
>> class X(object):
>>     def __init__(self,_d={},**kwargs):
>>         kwargs.update(_d)
>>         self.__dict__=kwargs
>> class Y(X):
>>     def __repr__(self):
>>         return '<Y:%s>'%self.__dict__
>>
>> ------
>>
>> x=X(spam=1)
>>
>> Maybe X should be renamed to __builtin__.Object ...
>>
>>
> 
> Have you considered putting it in one file and *importing* it into
> "almost every app/toolcore-module"?

(yes its in my core python "language extension" module, which I import frequently in apps)

> Have you considered that others may like to have something a little
> more elaborate, like maybe using the pprint module, or that the amount
> of data that would spew out might in some cases be so great that they
> wouldn't want that every time from repr(), preferring a dump-style
> method that wrote to a logfile?

(in X is no repr so far. of course one could make a default repr with short output. had no frequent needs so far)

> IMHO that's one of the enormous number of good points about Python; you
> can easily lash up something like that to suit yourself and inject it
> into any class you like; there's no central authority tying your hands
> behind your back.

its more about the general case, trying things out on the interactive etc. always - thus when I want speed not "suit"  :-)

very often I need a dummy object and find me always typing "class X:pass" or import above tools.
Think this trivial but needed Object() thing is possibly more than a private sitecustomize-thing. Thats why I wrote here upon seeing others trying object() which doesn't do what one expects at first.
It wouldn't really tie hands or ? but possibly converse

Robert