[Python-Dev] special method lookup: how much do we care?

[Benjamin Peterson]

2009/5/9 Greg Ewing <greg.ewing at canterbury.ac.nz>:
> Are we solving an actual problem by changing the
> behaviour here, or is it just a case of foolish
> consistency?

"No implementation detail is obscure enough."

For example, Maciek Fijalkowski of PyPy told me that he cares about
this because someone is bound to eventually rely on it, and PyPy will
have to follow CPython.

>
> Seems to me that trying to pin down exactly what
> constitutes a "special method" is a fool's errand,
> especially if you want it to include __enter__ and
> __exit__ but not __reduce__, etc.

IMO, if it's a callable that begins with __ and ends with __, it's a
special method.


-- 
Regards,
Benjamin