Is type object an instance or class?

[Peter Otten]

JH wrote:

> I found that a type/class are both a subclass and a instance of base
> type "object".
> 
> It conflicts to my understanding that:
> 
> 1.) a type/class object is created from class statement
> 2.) a instance is created by "calling" a class object.
> 
> A object should not be both a class and an instance at the same time.

A class should be an instance. Now what?
 
> Further I found out there is a special type call "type" that is a
> subclass of base type "object". All other types are instances of this
> type.  Even base type "object" is an instance of this special type.
> 
> What is role of this type "type" in object creation?  Could someone
> there straighten this concept a little?

The type of a class is called metaclass. The creation of a class is the same
as an instantiation of its metaclass. You can therefore write

class A(object):
    answer = 42
 
as

A = type("A", (object,), dict(answer=42))

So now we know how to make a class from a metaclass, how can we make a
metaclass? The tailbiting answer is that a metaclass is a class, too.

Can you figure out the result of isinstance(type, type)?

Peter