Mario Figueiredo <mar...@gmail.com> writes: > People were saying to me that in Python object = instance. I'm trying > to argue why I believe it isn't and asking for arguments to convince > me otherwise.
In Python: * Every value is an object. * Every object is an instance of some class. * To say “object” is uproblematic for values in Python, because the programming term “object” doesn't imply anything about classes. * To say “instance” implies a specific relationship to some particular class; in programming terminology (because in English generally) an instance is so called only because it is an instance of some specific class. > By referring to an instance of Sub as "Sub object", there's an > implicit affirmation that an object is an instance. Correct. That raises a fourth point: * In the distant past of Python, some objects were not instances of any class; the terminology in the documentation and messages shows some confusing legacies from that ancient time. The phrasing “'Foo' object” is ambiguous in a way that “'Foo' instance” would not be. I agree with others that changing the message to refer to “'Foo' instance” would be an improvement. -- \ “Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?” “I think so, | `\ Brain, but I find scratching just makes it worse.” —_Pinky and | _o__) The Brain_ | Ben Finney -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list