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authorGeorg Brandl <georg@python.org>2007-09-04 08:11:03 (GMT)
committerGeorg Brandl <georg@python.org>2007-09-04 08:11:03 (GMT)
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Initial documentation for the `abc` module.
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+
+:mod:`abc` --- Abstract Base Classes
+====================================
+
+.. module:: abc
+ :synopsis: Abstract base classes according to PEP 3119.
+.. moduleauthor:: Guido van Rossum
+.. sectionauthor:: Georg Brandl
+.. much of the content adapted from docstrings
+
+This module provides the infrastructure for defining abstract base classes
+(ABCs) in Python, as outlined in :pep:`3119`.
+
+Concrete base ABCs to derive from can be found in the :mod:`collections` module.
+
+
+The module provides the following class:
+
+.. class:: ABCMeta
+
+ Metaclass for defining Abstract Base Classes (ABCs).
+
+ Use this metaclass to create an ABC. An ABC can be subclassed directly, and
+ then acts as a mix-in class. You can also register unrelated concrete
+ classes (even built-in classes) and unrelated ABCs as "virtual subclasses" --
+ these and their descendants will be considered subclasses of the registering
+ ABC by the built-in :func:`issubclass` function, but the registering ABC
+ won't show up in their MRO (Method Resolution Order) nor will method
+ implementations defined by the registering ABC be callable (not even via
+ :func:`super`).
+
+ Classes created with a metaclass of :class:`ABCMeta` have the following method:
+
+ .. method:: register(subclass)
+
+ Register *subclass* as a "virtual subclass" of this ABC. From now on,
+ ``issubclass(subclass, ABC)`` is true.
+
+
+ You can also override this method in an abstract base class:
+
+ .. method:: __subclasshook__(subclass)
+
+ (Must be defined as a class method.)
+
+ Check whether *subclass* is considered a subclass of this ABC. This means
+ that you can customize the behavior of ``issubclass`` further without the
+ need to call :meth:`register` on every class you want to consider a
+ subclass of the ABC.
+
+ This method should return ``True``, ``False`` or ``NotImplemented``. If
+ it returns ``True``, the *subclass* is considered a subclass of this ABC.
+ If it returns ``False``, the *subclass* is not considered a subclass of
+ this ABC, even if it would normally be one. If it returns
+ ``NotImplemented``, the subclass check is continued with the usual
+ mechanism.
+
+
+ To demonstrate these concepts, look at this example ABC definition::
+
+ class MyIterator:
+ pass
+
+ class Iterator(metaclass=ABCMeta):
+
+ @abstractmethod
+ def __next__(self):
+ raise StopIteration
+
+ def __iter__(self):
+ return self
+
+ @classmethod
+ def __subclasshook__(cls, C):
+ if cls is Iterator:
+ if any("__next__" in B.__dict__ for B in C.__mro__):
+ return True
+ return NotImplemented
+
+ Iterator.register(MyIterator)
+
+ The ABC ``Iterator`` defines the two standard iterator methods:
+ :meth:`__iter__` and :meth:`__next__`. The :meth:`__iter__` method is given
+ a default implementation, while the :meth:`__next__` method is abstract.
+
+ .. XXX why is an implementation given then?
+
+ The :meth:`__subclasshook__` class method defined here says that any class
+ that has a :meth:`__next__` method in its :attr:`__dict__` (or in that of one
+ of its subclasses, accessed via the :attr:`__mro__`) is considered an
+ ``Iterator`` too.
+
+ Finally, the last line makes ``MyIterator`` a virtual subclass of
+ ``Iterator``, even though it does not define a :meth:`__next__` method.
+ (Of course, this doesn't make much sense in this context.)
+
+ .. XXX perhaps find better example
+
+
+It also provides the following decorators:
+
+.. function:: abstractmethod(function)
+
+ A decorator indicating abstract methods.
+
+ Requires that the metaclass is :class:`ABCMeta` or derived from it. A class
+ that has a metaclass derived from :class:`ABCMeta` cannot be instantiated
+ unless all of its abstract methods are overridden. The abstract methods can
+ be called using any of the the normal 'super' call mechanisms.
+
+ Usage::
+
+ class C(metaclass=ABCMeta):
+ @abstractmethod
+ def my_abstract_method(self, ...):
+ ...
+
+
+.. function:: abstractproperty(property)
+
+ A decorator indicating abstract properties.
+
+ Requires that the metaclass is :class:`ABCMeta` or derived from it. A class
+ that has a metaclass derived from :class:`ABCMeta` cannot be instantiated
+ unless all of its abstract properties are overridden. The abstract
+ properties can be called using any of the the normal 'super' call mechanisms.
+
+ Usage::
+
+ class C(metaclass=ABCMeta):
+ @abstractproperty
+ def my_abstract_property(self):
+ ...
+
+ This defines a read-only property; you can also define a read-write abstract
+ property using the 'long' form of property declaration::
+
+ class C(metaclass=ABCMeta):
+ def getx(self): ...
+ def setx(self, value): ...
+ x = abstractproperty(getx, setx)
+
diff --git a/Doc/library/python.rst b/Doc/library/python.rst
index 3b58eee..3384322 100644
--- a/Doc/library/python.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/python.rst
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ overview:
__main__.rst
warnings.rst
contextlib.rst
+ abc.rst
atexit.rst
traceback.rst
__future__.rst