Why not just inherit from dict? That seems to work.
Because that isn't the question - Steven knows how to make it work, what he's curious about is why things are the way they are :)
Anyway, a quick look suggests that it is due to typeobject.c using the concrete PyDict_* API calls [1] to manipulate tp_dict, rather than the abstract PyMapping_* calls [2]. The reason behind using the concrete API is, presumably, a question of speed :)
Cheers, Nick.
[1] http://www.python.org/dev/doc/devel/api/dictObjects.html [2] http://www.python.org/dev/doc/devel/api/mapping.html -- Nick Coghlan | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Brisbane, Australia --------------------------------------------------------------- http://boredomandlaziness.skystorm.net -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
