[Python-Dev] Preserving the definition order of class namespaces.

[Nick Coghlan]

On 24 May 2015 at 15:53, Eric Snow <ericsnowcurrently at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On May 23, 2015 10:47 PM, "Guido van Rossum" <guido at python.org> wrote:
>>
>> How will __definition_order__ be set in the case where __prepare__ doesn't
>> return an OrderedDict? Or where a custom metaclass's __new__ calls its
>> superclass's __new__ with a plain dict? (I just wrote some code that does
>> that. :-)
>
> I was planning on setting it to None if the order is not available.  At the
> moment that's just a check for OrderedDict.

Is it specifically necessary to save the order by default? Metaclasses
would be able to access the ordered namespace in their __new__ method
regardless, and for 3.6, I still like the __init_subclass__ hook idea
proposed in PEP 487, which includes passing the original namespace to
the new hook.

So while I'm sold on the value of making class execution namespaces
ordered by default, I'm not yet sold on the idea of *remembering* that
order without opting in to doing so in the metaclass.

If we leave __definition_order__ out for the time being then, for the
vast majority of code, the fact that the ephemeral namespace used to
evaluate the class body switched from being a basic dictionary to an
ordered one would be a hidden implementation detail, rather than
making all type objects a little bigger.

Regards,
Nick.

-- 
Nick Coghlan   |   ncoghlan at gmail.com   |   Brisbane, Australia