Ahem; I typed (without checking...):
> Module Symbol.py--
> class Symbol(str): <<- should be: "class Symbol:"
> def __init__(self): <<- should be: "def __init__(self, str):"
> self.data = intern(str)
and yet again:
> Example use---
> x = Symbol('abc')
> y = Symbol('a' + 'bc')
> x is y -> yes: same dictionary/property-list
of course this is wrong, since x and y are different class
instance objects (I really have to build Python here soon...).
You'd need to do:
x.data is y.data -> yes: same dictionary/property-list
unless you store the Symbol class itself in the string dictionary:
Module Symbol2.py---
class Symbol:
def __init__(self, str):
self.data = {'name':str}
def __repr__(self):
return self.getprop('name')
def getprop(self, key):
try:
return self.data[key]
except KeyError:
return None
def putprop(self, key, value):
self.data[key] = value
_tab = {}
def intern(str):
try:
return _tab[str]
except KeyError:
_tab[str] = Symbol(str)
return _tab[str]
New-and-improved example use---
x = intern('abc')
y = intern('a' + 'bc')
x is y -> yes: same class instance
print y -> 'abc'
y.getprop('name') -> 'abc'
y.putprop('value', 99)
Now, since this makes 'Symbol' just a wrapper on top of a dictionary,
and since a class is a form of dictionary itself, you can use getattr()
and setattr() built-in methods, and get rid of the dictionary altogether,
saving space:
Module Symbol3.py---
class Symbol:
def __init__(self, str):
self.name = str
def __repr__(self):
return self.name
def getprop(self, key):
try:
return getattr(self, key)
except KeyError:
return None
def putprop(self, key, value):
setattr(self, key, value)
<rest stays the same>
or you could get rid of getprop, putprop as well:
Module Symbol4.py---
class Symbol:
def __init__(self, str):
self.name = str
def __repr__(self):
return self.name
_tab = {}
def intern(str):
try:
return _tab[str]
except KeyError:
_tab[str] = Symbol(str)
return _tab[str]
New-and-re-improved example use---
x = intern('abc')
y = intern('a' + 'bc')
x is y -> yes: same class instance
print y -> 'abc'
y.getattr('name') -> 'abc'
y.setattr('value', 99)
which is very simple code, but will still run much slower than
built-in symbol table support. Sorry for the confusion.
Mark Lutz