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+The Python 2.3 Method Resolution Order
+======================================
+
+:Version: 1.4
+:Author: Michele Simionato
+:E-mail: michelesimionato@libero.it
+:Address: Department of Physics and Astronomy
+ 210 Allen Hall Pittsburgh PA 15260 U.S.A.
+:Home-page: http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/~micheles/
+
+:Abstract:
+
+ *This document is intended for Python programmers who want to
+ understand the C3 Method Resolution Order used in Python 2.3.
+ Although it is not intended for newbies, it is quite pedagogical with
+ many worked out examples. I am not aware of other publicly available
+ documents with the same scope, therefore it should be useful.*
+
+Disclaimer:
+
+ I donate this document to the Python Software Foundation, under the
+ Python 2.3 license. As usual in these circumstances, I warn the
+ reader that what follows *should* be correct, but I don't give any
+ warranty. Use it at your own risk and peril!
+
+Acknowledgments:
+
+ All the people of the Python mailing list who sent me their support.
+ Paul Foley who pointed out various imprecisions and made me to add the
+ part on local precedence ordering. David Goodger for help with the
+ formatting in reStructuredText. David Mertz for help with the editing.
+ Joan G. Stark for the pythonic pictures. Finally, Guido van Rossum who
+ enthusiastically added this document to the official Python 2.3 home-page.
+
+----
+
+ ::
+
+
+
+ .-=-. .--.
+ __ .' '. / " )
+ _ .' '. / .-. \ / .-'\
+ ( \ / .-. \ / / \ \ / / ^
+ \ `-` / \ `-' / \ `-` /
+ jgs`-.-` '.____.' `.____.'
+
+
+The beginning
+-------------
+
+ *Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas* -- Virgilius
+
+Everything started with a post by Samuele Pedroni to the Python
+development mailing list [#]_. In his post, Samuele showed that the
+Python 2.2 method resolution order is not monotonic and he proposed to
+replace it with the C3 method resolution order. Guido agreed with his
+arguments and therefore now Python 2.3 uses C3. The C3 method itself
+has nothing to do with Python, since it was invented by people working
+on Dylan and it is described in a paper intended for lispers [#]_. The
+present paper gives a (hopefully) readable discussion of the C3
+algorithm for Pythonistas who want to understand the reasons for the
+change.
+
+First of all, let me point out that what I am going to say only applies
+to the *new style classes* introduced in Python 2.2: *classic classes*
+maintain their old method resolution order, depth first and then left to
+right. Therefore, there is no breaking of old code for classic classes;
+and even if in principle there could be breaking of code for Python 2.2
+new style classes, in practice the cases in which the C3 resolution
+order differs from the Python 2.2 method resolution order are so rare
+that no real breaking of code is expected. Therefore:
+
+ *Don't be scared!*
+
+Moreover, unless you make strong use of multiple inheritance and you
+have non-trivial hierarchies, you don't need to understand the C3
+algorithm, and you can easily skip this paper. On the other hand, if
+you really want to know how multiple inheritance works, then this paper
+is for you. The good news is that things are not as complicated as you
+might expect.
+
+Let me begin with some basic definitions.
+
+1) Given a class C in a complicated multiple inheritance hierarchy, it
+ is a non-trivial task to specify the order in which methods are
+ overridden, i.e. to specify the order of the ancestors of C.
+
+2) The list of the ancestors of a class C, including the class itself,
+ ordered from the nearest ancestor to the furthest, is called the
+ class precedence list or the *linearization* of C.
+
+3) The *Method Resolution Order* (MRO) is the set of rules that
+ construct the linearization. In the Python literature, the idiom
+ "the MRO of C" is also used as a synonymous for the linearization of
+ the class C.
+
+4) For instance, in the case of single inheritance hierarchy, if C is a
+ subclass of C1, and C1 is a subclass of C2, then the linearization of
+ C is simply the list [C, C1 , C2]. However, with multiple
+ inheritance hierarchies, the construction of the linearization is
+ more cumbersome, since it is more difficult to construct a
+ linearization that respects *local precedence ordering* and
+ *monotonicity*.
+
+5) I will discuss the local precedence ordering later, but I can give
+ the definition of monotonicity here. A MRO is monotonic when the
+ following is true: *if C1 precedes C2 in the linearization of C,
+ then C1 precedes C2 in the linearization of any subclass of C*.
+ Otherwise, the innocuous operation of deriving a new class could
+ change the resolution order of methods, potentially introducing very
+ subtle bugs. Examples where this happens will be shown later.
+
+6) Not all classes admit a linearization. There are cases, in
+ complicated hierarchies, where it is not possible to derive a class
+ such that its linearization respects all the desired properties.
+
+Here I give an example of this situation. Consider the hierarchy
+
+ >>> O = object
+ >>> class X(O): pass
+ >>> class Y(O): pass
+ >>> class A(X,Y): pass
+ >>> class B(Y,X): pass
+
+which can be represented with the following inheritance graph, where I
+have denoted with O the ``object`` class, which is the beginning of any
+hierarchy for new style classes:
+
+ ::
+
+ -----------
+ | |
+ | O |
+ | / \ |
+ - X Y /
+ | / | /
+ | / |/
+ A B
+ \ /
+ ?
+
+In this case, it is not possible to derive a new class C from A and B,
+since X precedes Y in A, but Y precedes X in B, therefore the method
+resolution order would be ambiguous in C.
+
+Python 2.3 raises an exception in this situation (TypeError: MRO
+conflict among bases Y, X) forbidding the naive programmer from creating
+ambiguous hierarchies. Python 2.2 instead does not raise an exception,
+but chooses an *ad hoc* ordering (CABXYO in this case).
+
+----
+
+ ::
+
+ _ .-=-. .-==-.
+ { } __ .' O o '. / -<' )
+ { } .' O'. / o .-. O \ / .--v`
+ { } / .-. o\ /O / \ o\ /O /
+ \ `-` / \ O`-'o / \ O`-`o /
+ jgs `-.-` '.____.' `.____.'
+
+
+The C3 Method Resolution Order
+------------------------------
+
+Let me introduce a few simple notations which will be useful for the
+following discussion. I will use the shortcut notation
+
+ C1 C2 ... CN
+
+to indicate the list of classes [C1, C2, ... , CN].
+
+The *head* of the list is its first element:
+
+ head = C1
+
+whereas the *tail* is the rest of the list:
+
+ tail = C2 ... CN.
+
+I shall also use the notation
+
+ C + (C1 C2 ... CN) = C C1 C2 ... CN
+
+to denote the sum of the lists [C] + [C1, C2, ... ,CN].
+
+Now I can explain how the MRO works in Python 2.3.
+
+Consider a class C in a multiple inheritance hierarchy, with C
+inheriting from the base classes B1, B2, ... , BN. We want to
+compute the linearization L[C] of the class C. The rule is the
+following:
+
+ *the linearization of C is the sum of C plus the merge of the
+ linearizations of the parents and the list of the parents.*
+
+In symbolic notation:
+
+ L[C(B1 ... BN)] = C + merge(L[B1] ... L[BN], B1 ... BN)
+
+In particular, if C is the ``object`` class, which has no parents, the
+linearization is trivial:
+
+ L[object] = object.
+
+However, in general one has to compute the merge according to the following
+prescription:
+
+ *take the head of the first list, i.e L[B1][0]; if this head is not in
+ the tail of any of the other lists, then add it to the linearization
+ of C and remove it from the lists in the merge, otherwise look at the
+ head of the next list and take it, if it is a good head. Then repeat
+ the operation until all the class are removed or it is impossible to
+ find good heads. In this case, it is impossible to construct the
+ merge, Python 2.3 will refuse to create the class C and will raise an
+ exception.*
+
+This prescription ensures that the merge operation *preserves* the
+ordering, if the ordering can be preserved. On the other hand, if the
+order cannot be preserved (as in the example of serious order
+disagreement discussed above) then the merge cannot be computed.
+
+The computation of the merge is trivial if C has only one parent
+(single inheritance); in this case
+
+ L[C(B)] = C + merge(L[B],B) = C + L[B]
+
+However, in the case of multiple inheritance things are more cumbersome
+and I don't expect you can understand the rule without a couple of
+examples ;-)
+
+----
+
+ ::
+
+ .-'-.
+ /' `\
+ /' _.-.-._ `\
+ | (|) (|) |
+ | \__"__/ |
+ \ |v.v| /
+ \ | | | /
+ `\ |=^-| /'
+ `|=-=|'
+ | - |
+ |= |
+ |-=-|
+ _.-=-=|= -|=-=-._
+ ( |___| )
+ ( `-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-` )
+ (`-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-`)
+ (`-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-`)
+ (`-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-`)
+ (`-=-=-=-=-=-=-`)
+ jgs `-=-=-=-=-=-=-`
+
+
+Examples
+--------
+
+First example. Consider the following hierarchy:
+
+ >>> O = object
+ >>> class F(O): pass
+ >>> class E(O): pass
+ >>> class D(O): pass
+ >>> class C(D,F): pass
+ >>> class B(D,E): pass
+ >>> class A(B,C): pass
+
+In this case the inheritance graph can be drawn as
+
+ ::
+
+ 6
+ ---
+ Level 3 | O | (more general)
+ / --- \
+ / | \ |
+ / | \ |
+ / | \ |
+ --- --- --- |
+ Level 2 3 | D | 4| E | | F | 5 |
+ --- --- --- |
+ \ \ _ / | |
+ \ / \ _ | |
+ \ / \ | |
+ --- --- |
+ Level 1 1 | B | | C | 2 |
+ --- --- |
+ \ / |
+ \ / \ /
+ ---
+ Level 0 0 | A | (more specialized)
+ ---
+
+
+The linearizations of O,D,E and F are trivial:
+
+ ::
+
+ L[O] = O
+ L[D] = D O
+ L[E] = E O
+ L[F] = F O
+
+The linearization of B can be computed as
+
+ ::
+
+ L[B] = B + merge(DO, EO, DE)
+
+We see that D is a good head, therefore we take it and we are reduced to
+compute ``merge(O,EO,E)``. Now O is not a good head, since it is in the
+tail of the sequence EO. In this case the rule says that we have to
+skip to the next sequence. Then we see that E is a good head; we take
+it and we are reduced to compute ``merge(O,O)`` which gives O. Therefore
+
+ ::
+
+ L[B] = B D E O
+
+Using the same procedure one finds:
+
+ ::
+
+ L[C] = C + merge(DO,FO,DF)
+ = C + D + merge(O,FO,F)
+ = C + D + F + merge(O,O)
+ = C D F O
+
+Now we can compute:
+
+ ::
+
+ L[A] = A + merge(BDEO,CDFO,BC)
+ = A + B + merge(DEO,CDFO,C)
+ = A + B + C + merge(DEO,DFO)
+ = A + B + C + D + merge(EO,FO)
+ = A + B + C + D + E + merge(O,FO)
+ = A + B + C + D + E + F + merge(O,O)
+ = A B C D E F O
+
+In this example, the linearization is ordered in a pretty nice way
+according to the inheritance level, in the sense that lower levels (i.e.
+more specialized classes) have higher precedence (see the inheritance
+graph). However, this is not the general case.
+
+I leave as an exercise for the reader to compute the linearization for
+my second example:
+
+ >>> O = object
+ >>> class F(O): pass
+ >>> class E(O): pass
+ >>> class D(O): pass
+ >>> class C(D,F): pass
+ >>> class B(E,D): pass
+ >>> class A(B,C): pass
+
+The only difference with the previous example is the change B(D,E) -->
+B(E,D); however even such a little modification completely changes the
+ordering of the hierarchy
+
+ ::
+
+ 6
+ ---
+ Level 3 | O |
+ / --- \
+ / | \
+ / | \
+ / | \
+ --- --- ---
+ Level 2 2 | E | 4 | D | | F | 5
+ --- --- ---
+ \ / \ /
+ \ / \ /
+ \ / \ /
+ --- ---
+ Level 1 1 | B | | C | 3
+ --- ---
+ \ /
+ \ /
+ ---
+ Level 0 0 | A |
+ ---
+
+
+Notice that the class E, which is in the second level of the hierarchy,
+precedes the class C, which is in the first level of the hierarchy, i.e.
+E is more specialized than C, even if it is in a higher level.
+
+A lazy programmer can obtain the MRO directly from Python 2.2, since in
+this case it coincides with the Python 2.3 linearization. It is enough
+to invoke the .mro() method of class A:
+
+ >>> A.mro()
+ (<class '__main__.A'>, <class '__main__.B'>, <class '__main__.E'>,
+ <class '__main__.C'>, <class '__main__.D'>, <class '__main__.F'>,
+ <type 'object'>)
+
+Finally, let me consider the example discussed in the first section,
+involving a serious order disagreement. In this case, it is
+straightforward to compute the linearizations of O, X, Y, A and B:
+
+ ::
+
+ L[O] = 0
+ L[X] = X O
+ L[Y] = Y O
+ L[A] = A X Y O
+ L[B] = B Y X O
+
+However, it is impossible to compute the linearization for a class C
+that inherits from A and B:
+
+ ::
+
+ L[C] = C + merge(AXYO, BYXO, AB)
+ = C + A + merge(XYO, BYXO, B)
+ = C + A + B + merge(XYO, YXO)
+
+At this point we cannot merge the lists XYO and YXO, since X is in the
+tail of YXO whereas Y is in the tail of XYO: therefore there are no
+good heads and the C3 algorithm stops. Python 2.3 raises an error and
+refuses to create the class C.
+
+----
+
+ ::
+
+ __
+ (\ .-. .-. /_")
+ \\_//^\\_//^\\_//
+ jgs `"` `"` `"`
+
+
+Bad Method Resolution Orders
+----------------------------
+
+A MRO is *bad* when it breaks such fundamental properties as local
+precedence ordering and monotonicity. In this section, I will show
+that both the MRO for classic classes and the MRO for new style classes
+in Python 2.2 are bad.
+
+It is easier to start with the local precedence ordering. Consider the
+following example:
+
+ >>> F=type('Food',(),{'remember2buy':'spam'})
+ >>> E=type('Eggs',(F,),{'remember2buy':'eggs'})
+ >>> G=type('GoodFood',(F,E),{}) # under Python 2.3 this is an error!
+
+with inheritance diagram
+
+ ::
+
+ O
+ |
+ (buy spam) F
+ | \
+ | E (buy eggs)
+ | /
+ G
+
+ (buy eggs or spam ?)
+
+
+We see that class G inherits from F and E, with F *before* E: therefore
+we would expect the attribute *G.remember2buy* to be inherited by
+*F.rembermer2buy* and not by *E.remember2buy*: nevertheless Python 2.2
+gives
+
+ >>> G.remember2buy
+ 'eggs'
+
+This is a breaking of local precedence ordering since the order in the
+local precedence list, i.e. the list of the parents of G, is not
+preserved in the Python 2.2 linearization of G:
+
+ ::
+
+ L[G,P22]= G E F object # F *follows* E
+
+One could argue that the reason why F follows E in the Python 2.2
+linearization is that F is less specialized than E, since F is the
+superclass of E; nevertheless the breaking of local precedence ordering
+is quite non-intuitive and error prone. This is particularly true since
+it is a different from old style classes:
+
+ >>> class F: remember2buy='spam'
+ >>> class E(F): remember2buy='eggs'
+ >>> class G(F,E): pass
+ >>> G.remember2buy
+ 'spam'
+
+In this case the MRO is GFEF and the local precedence ordering is
+preserved.
+
+As a general rule, hierarchies such as the previous one should be
+avoided, since it is unclear if F should override E or viceversa.
+Python 2.3 solves the ambiguity by raising an exception in the creation
+of class G, effectively stopping the programmer from generating
+ambiguous hierarchies. The reason for that is that the C3 algorithm
+fails when the merge
+
+ ::
+
+ merge(FO,EFO,FE)
+
+cannot be computed, because F is in the tail of EFO and E is in the tail
+of FE.
+
+The real solution is to design a non-ambiguous hierarchy, i.e. to derive
+G from E and F (the more specific first) and not from F and E; in this
+case the MRO is GEF without any doubt.
+
+ ::
+
+ O
+ |
+ F (spam)
+ / |
+ (eggs) E |
+ \ |
+ G
+ (eggs, no doubt)
+
+
+Python 2.3 forces the programmer to write good hierarchies (or, at
+least, less error-prone ones).
+
+On a related note, let me point out that the Python 2.3 algorithm is
+smart enough to recognize obvious mistakes, as the duplication of
+classes in the list of parents:
+
+ >>> class A(object): pass
+ >>> class C(A,A): pass # error
+ Traceback (most recent call last):
+ File "<stdin>", line 1, in ?
+ TypeError: duplicate base class A
+
+Python 2.2 (both for classic classes and new style classes) in this
+situation, would not raise any exception.
+
+Finally, I would like to point out two lessons we have learned from this
+example:
+
+1. despite the name, the MRO determines the resolution order of
+ attributes, not only of methods;
+
+2. the default food for Pythonistas is spam ! (but you already knew
+ that ;-)
+
+----
+
+ ::
+
+ __
+ (\ .-. .-. /_")
+ \\_//^\\_//^\\_//
+ jgs `"` `"` `"`
+
+
+Having discussed the issue of local precedence ordering, let me now
+consider the issue of monotonicity. My goal is to show that neither the
+MRO for classic classes nor that for Python 2.2 new style classes is
+monotonic.
+
+To prove that the MRO for classic classes is non-monotonic is rather
+trivial, it is enough to look at the diamond diagram:
+
+ ::
+
+
+ C
+ / \
+ / \
+ A B
+ \ /
+ \ /
+ D
+
+One easily discerns the inconsistency:
+
+ ::
+
+ L[B,P21] = B C # B precedes C : B's methods win
+ L[D,P21] = D A C B C # B follows C : C's methods win!
+
+On the other hand, there are no problems with the Python 2.2 and 2.3
+MROs, they give both
+
+ ::
+
+ L[D] = D A B C
+
+Guido points out in his essay [#]_ that the classic MRO is not so bad in
+practice, since one can typically avoids diamonds for classic classes.
+But all new style classes inherit from ``object``, therefore diamonds are
+unavoidable and inconsistencies shows up in every multiple inheritance
+graph.
+
+The MRO of Python 2.2 makes breaking monotonicity difficult, but not
+impossible. The following example, originally provided by Samuele
+Pedroni, shows that the MRO of Python 2.2 is non-monotonic:
+
+ >>> class A(object): pass
+ >>> class B(object): pass
+ >>> class C(object): pass
+ >>> class D(object): pass
+ >>> class E(object): pass
+ >>> class K1(A,B,C): pass
+ >>> class K2(D,B,E): pass
+ >>> class K3(D,A): pass
+ >>> class Z(K1,K2,K3): pass
+
+Here are the linearizations according to the C3 MRO (the reader should
+verify these linearizations as an exercise and draw the inheritance
+diagram ;-)
+
+ ::
+
+ L[A] = A O
+ L[B] = B O
+ L[C] = C O
+ L[D] = D O
+ L[E] = E O
+ L[K1]= K1 A B C O
+ L[K2]= K2 D B E O
+ L[K3]= K3 D A O
+ L[Z] = Z K1 K2 K3 D A B C E O
+
+Python 2.2 gives exactly the same linearizations for A, B, C, D, E, K1,
+K2 and K3, but a different linearization for Z:
+
+ ::
+
+ L[Z,P22] = Z K1 K3 A K2 D B C E O
+
+It is clear that this linearization is *wrong*, since A comes before D
+whereas in the linearization of K3 A comes *after* D. In other words, in
+K3 methods derived by D override methods derived by A, but in Z, which
+still is a subclass of K3, methods derived by A override methods derived
+by D! This is a violation of monotonicity. Moreover, the Python 2.2
+linearization of Z is also inconsistent with local precedence ordering,
+since the local precedence list of the class Z is [K1, K2, K3] (K2
+precedes K3), whereas in the linearization of Z K2 *follows* K3. These
+problems explain why the 2.2 rule has been dismissed in favor of the C3
+rule.
+
+----
+
+ ::
+
+ __
+ (\ .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. /_")
+ \\_//^\\_//^\\_//^\\_//^\\_//^\\_//^\\_//^\\_//^\\_//
+ jgs `"` `"` `"` `"` `"` `"` `"` `"` `"`
+
+
+
+The end
+-------
+
+This section is for the impatient reader, who skipped all the previous
+sections and jumped immediately to the end. This section is for the
+lazy programmer too, who didn't want to exercise her/his brain.
+Finally, it is for the programmer with some hubris, otherwise s/he would
+not be reading a paper on the C3 method resolution order in multiple
+inheritance hierarchies ;-) These three virtues taken all together (and
+*not* separately) deserve a prize: the prize is a short Python 2.2
+script that allows you to compute the 2.3 MRO without risk to your
+brain. Simply change the last line to play with the various examples I
+have discussed in this paper.
+
+ ::
+
+ #<mro.py>
+
+ """C3 algorithm by Samuele Pedroni (with readability enhanced by me)."""
+
+ class __metaclass__(type):
+ "All classes are metamagically modified to be nicely printed"
+ __repr__ = lambda cls: cls.__name__
+
+ class ex_2:
+ "Serious order disagreement" #From Guido
+ class O: pass
+ class X(O): pass
+ class Y(O): pass
+ class A(X,Y): pass
+ class B(Y,X): pass
+ try:
+ class Z(A,B): pass #creates Z(A,B) in Python 2.2
+ except TypeError:
+ pass # Z(A,B) cannot be created in Python 2.3
+
+ class ex_5:
+ "My first example"
+ class O: pass
+ class F(O): pass
+ class E(O): pass
+ class D(O): pass
+ class C(D,F): pass
+ class B(D,E): pass
+ class A(B,C): pass
+
+ class ex_6:
+ "My second example"
+ class O: pass
+ class F(O): pass
+ class E(O): pass
+ class D(O): pass
+ class C(D,F): pass
+ class B(E,D): pass
+ class A(B,C): pass
+
+ class ex_9:
+ "Difference between Python 2.2 MRO and C3" #From Samuele
+ class O: pass
+ class A(O): pass
+ class B(O): pass
+ class C(O): pass
+ class D(O): pass
+ class E(O): pass
+ class K1(A,B,C): pass
+ class K2(D,B,E): pass
+ class K3(D,A): pass
+ class Z(K1,K2,K3): pass
+
+ def merge(seqs):
+ print '\n\nCPL[%s]=%s' % (seqs[0][0],seqs),
+ res = []; i=0
+ while 1:
+ nonemptyseqs=[seq for seq in seqs if seq]
+ if not nonemptyseqs: return res
+ i+=1; print '\n',i,'round: candidates...',
+ for seq in nonemptyseqs: # find merge candidates among seq heads
+ cand = seq[0]; print ' ',cand,
+ nothead=[s for s in nonemptyseqs if cand in s[1:]]
+ if nothead: cand=None #reject candidate
+ else: break
+ if not cand: raise "Inconsistent hierarchy"
+ res.append(cand)
+ for seq in nonemptyseqs: # remove cand
+ if seq[0] == cand: del seq[0]
+
+ def mro(C):
+ "Compute the class precedence list (mro) according to C3"
+ return merge([[C]]+map(mro,C.__bases__)+[list(C.__bases__)])
+
+ def print_mro(C):
+ print '\nMRO[%s]=%s' % (C,mro(C))
+ print '\nP22 MRO[%s]=%s' % (C,C.mro())
+
+ print_mro(ex_9.Z)
+
+ #</mro.py>
+
+That's all folks,
+
+ enjoy !
+
+
+----
+
+ ::
+
+
+ __
+ ("_\ .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. /)
+ \\_//^\\_//^\\_//^\\_//^\\_//^\\_//^\\_//^\\_//^\\_//
+ jgs `"` `"` `"` `"` `"` `"` `"` `"` `"`
+
+
+Resources
+---------
+
+.. [#] The thread on python-dev started by Samuele Pedroni:
+ http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2002-October/029035.html
+
+.. [#] The paper *A Monotonic Superclass Linearization for Dylan*:
+ http://www.webcom.com/haahr/dylan/linearization-oopsla96.html
+
+.. [#] Guido van Rossum's essay, *Unifying types and classes in Python 2.2*:
+ http://www.python.org/2.2.2/descrintro.html