The type() builtin according to python docs, returns a "type object". http://docs.python.org/2/library/types.html
And in this module is bunch of what I assume are "type objects". Is this correct? http://docs.python.org/2/library/functions.html#type And type(), aside from being used in as an alternative to a class statement to create a new type, really just returns the object class, doesn't it? >>> import types >>> a = type(1) >>> b = (1).__class__ >>> c = int >>> d = types.IntType >>> a is b is c is d True >>> If type() didn't exist would it be much more of a matter than the following?: def type(x): return x.__class__ What is the purpose of type()? What exactly is a "type object"? Is it a "class"? What is the purpose of the types module? I understand the purpose of isinstance and why it's recommended over something like (type(1) is int). Because isinstance will also return True if the object is an instance of a subclass. >>> class xint(int): def __init__(self): pass >>> x = xint() >>> type(x) is int False >>> isinstance(x, int) True >>> -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
