where does __class__ come from?

[patrick.m.lahey]

Newbie here...

Ok, the following code:

class Base:
_count = 0
def __init__(self):
self.__class__._count += 1
print dir(self)

x = Base()

the output is:

['__doc__', '__init__', '__module__', '_count']

Notice that __class__ is no where to be seen!

Where does __class__ come from, what does it mean and what else is
being hidden?

I am used to using dir(...) to figure out what I can play with.
Clearly that does not always work... :-(

Thanks!

[wittempj]

see http://docs.python.org/lib/specialattrs.html

[Diez B. Roggisch]

> Where does __class__ come from, what does it mean and what else is

being hidden?

I am used to using dir(...) to figure out what I can play with.
Clearly that does not always work... :-(

Your question has benn answered - let me just add this from the dir()-docs:

Note: Because dir() is supplied primarily as a convenience for use at
an interactive prompt, it tries to supply an interesting set of names
more than it tries to supply a rigorously or consistently defined set
of names, and its detailed behavior may change across releases.

from

http://docs.python.org/lib/built-in-funcs.html

Regards,

Diez