A metaclass is a class/object which defines a type/class of other classes. In Python a metaclass can be a class, function or any object that supports calling an interface. This is because to create a class object; its metaclass is called with the class name, base classes and attributes (methods). When no metaclass is defined (which is usually the case), the default metaclass type is used.
For example:
Python 3.x
# Here __metaclass__ points to the metaclass object. class ExampleClass(metaclass=type): pass
Python 2.x
# Here __metaclass__ points to the metaclass object. class ExampleClass(object): __metaclass__ = type pass
When a class is created, the interpreter:
- Gets the name of the
class. - Gets the base classes of the
class. - Gets the
metaclassof theclass. If it is defined, it will use this first. Otherwise, it will check in the base classes for themetaclass. It it can’t find ametaclassin thebase class, thetypeobjectis used instead. - Gets the variables/attributes in the
classand stores them as a dictionary. - Passes this information to
metaclassasmetaclass(name_of_class, base_classes, attributes_dictionary)and it returns aclassobject.
For example:
# type(name, base, attrs)
# name is the name of the class
# base is a tuple of base classes (all methods/attributes are inherited
# from these) attrs is a dictionary filled with the class attributes
classObject = type('ExampleClass', (object,) ,{})
- Python Programming – Classes and Objects
- Python Programming – Built-in Class Attributes
- How to Check for Object Type in Python | Python type() and isinstance() Function with Examples
When type is called, its __call__ method is called. This method in turn calls the __new__ and __init__ methods. The __new__ method creates a new object, whereas the __init__ method initializes it. We can easily play with methods. This is a working example:
Python 3.x
class a:
def __init__(self, data):
self.data = data
def getd3(self):
return self.data * 3
class MyMeta(type):
def __new__(metaname, classname, baseclasses, attrs):
print('New called with')
print('metaname', metaname)
print('classname', classname)
print('baseclasses', baseclasses)
print('attrs', attrs)
attrs['getdata'] = a.__dict__['getd3']
# attrs['getdata'] = a.getd3
return type.__new__(metaname, classname, baseclasses, attrs)
def __init__(classobject, classname, baseclasses, attrs):
print('init called with')
print('classobject', classobject)
print('classname', classname)
print('baseclasses', baseclasses)
print('attrs', attrs)
class Kls(metaclass=MyMeta):
def __init__(self,data):
self.data = data
def printd(self):
print(self.data)
ik = Kls('arun')
ik.printd()
print(ik.getdata())
Python 2.x
class a(object):
def __init__(self, data):
self.data = data
def getd3(self):
return self.data * 3
class MyMeta(type):
def __new__(metaname, classname, baseclasses, attrs):
print 'New called with'
print 'metaname', metaname
print 'classname', classname
print 'baseclasses', baseclasses
print 'attrs', attrs
attrs['getdata'] = a.__dict__['getd3']
# attrs['getdata'] = a.getd3
return type.__new__(metaname, classname, baseclasses, attrs)
def __init__(classobject, classname, baseclasses, attrs):
print 'init called with'
print 'classobject', classobject
print 'classname', classname
print 'baseclasses', baseclasses
print 'attrs', attrs
class Kls(object):
__metaclass__ = MyMeta
def __init__(self, data):
self.data = data
def printd(self):
print self.data
ik = Kls('arun')
ik.printd()
print ik.getdata()
When running the code, we get:
New called with
metaname <class '__main__.MyMeta'>
classname Kls
baseclasses (<type 'object'>,)
attrs {'__module__': '__main__', '__metaclass__': <class '__main__.MyMeta'>, 'printd': <function printd at 0x7fbdab0176e0>, '__init__': <function __init__ at 0x7fbdab017668>}
init called with
classobject <class '__main__.Kls'>
classname Kls
baseclasses (<type 'object'>,)
attrs {'__module__': '__main__', 'getdata': <function getd3 at 0x7fbdab017500>, '__metaclass__': <class '__main__.MyMeta'>, 'printd': <function printd at 0x7fbdab0176e0>, '__init__': <function __init__ at 0x7fbdab017668>}
arun
arunarunarun
Normally we need to override only one method __new__ or __init__. We can also use function instead of a class. Here is an example:
Python 3.x
def meta_func(name, bases, attrs):
print('meta function called with', name, bases, attrs)
nattrs = {'mod' + key:attrs[key] for key in attrs}
return type(name, bases, nattrs)
MyMeta = meta_func
class Kls(metaclass=MyMeta):
def setd(self, data):
self.data = data
def getd(self):
return self.data
k = Kls()
k.modsetd('arun')
print(k.modgetd())
Python 2.x
def meta_func(name, bases, attrs):
print 'meta function called with', name, bases, attrs
nattrs = {'mod' + key:attrs[key] for key in attrs}
return type(name, bases, nattrs)
MyMeta = meta_func
class Kls(object):
__metaclass__ = MyMeta
def setd(self, data):
self.data = data
def getd(self):
return self.data
k = Kls()
k.modsetd('arun')
print k.modgetd()
Gives us the following output:
meta function called with Kls (<type 'object'>,) {'setd': <function setd at 0x88b21ec>, 'getd': <function getd at 0x88b22cc>, '__module__': '__main__', '__metaclass__': <function meta_func at 0xb72341b4>}
arun
Other then modifying base classes and methods of classes to be created, metaclasses can also modify instance creation process. This is because when we create an instance (ik = Kls()), this is like calling the class Kls. One point to note is that whenever we call an object its type’s __call__ method is called. So in this case the class type is metaclass hence its __call__ method will be called. We can check like this:
Python 3.x
class MyMeta(type):
def __call__(clsname, *args):
print('MyMeta called with')
print('clsname:', clsname)
print('args:', args)
instance = object.__new__(clsname)
instance.__init__(*args)
return instance
class Kls(metaclass=MyMeta):
def __init__(self, data):
self.data = data
def printd(self):
print(self.data)
ik = Kls('arun')
ik.printd()
Python 2.x
class MyMeta(type):
def __call__(clsname, *args):
print 'MyMeta called with'
print 'clsname:', clsname
print 'args:' ,args
instance = object.__new__(clsname)
instance.__init__(*args)
return instance
class Kls(object):
__metaclass__ = MyMeta
def __init__(self,data):
self.data = data
def printd(self):
print self.data
ik = Kls('arun')
ik.printd()
The output is as follows:
MyMeta called with
clsname: <class '__main__.Kls'>
args: ('arun',)
arun
Equipped with this information, if we go to the start of our discussion about the class creation process, it ended with a call to the metaclass object, which provided a class object. It was like this:
Kls = MetaClass(name, bases, attrs)
Hence this call should call the metaclass‘s type. The metaclass type is the metaclass‘s metaclass! We can check this as follows:
Python 3.x
class SuperMeta(type):
def __call__(metaname, clsname, baseclasses, attrs):
print('SuperMeta Called')
clsob = type.__new__(metaname, clsname, baseclasses, attrs)
type.__init__(clsob, clsname, baseclasses, attrs)
return clsob
class MyMeta(type, metaclass=SuperMeta):
def __call__(cls, *args, **kwargs):
print('MyMeta called', cls, args, kwargs)
ob = object.__new__(cls, *args)
ob.__init__(*args)
return ob
print('create class')
class Kls(metaclass=MyMeta):
def __init__(self, data):
self.data = data
def printd(self):
print(self.data)
print('class created')
ik = Kls('arun')
ik.printd()
ik2 = Kls('avni')
ik2.printd()
Python 2.x
class SuperMeta(type):
def __call__(metaname, clsname, baseclasses, attrs):
print 'SuperMeta Called'
clsob = type.__new__(metaname, clsname, baseclasses, attrs)
type.__init__(clsob, clsname, baseclasses, attrs)
return clsob
class MyMeta(type):
__metaclass__ = SuperMeta
def __call__(cls, *args, **kwargs):
print 'MyMeta called', cls, args, kwargs
ob = object.__new__(cls, *args)
ob.__init__(*args)
return ob
print 'create class'
class Kls(object):
__metaclass__ = MyMeta
def __init__(self, data):
self.data = data
def printd(self):
print self.data
print 'class created'
ik = Kls('arun')
ik.printd()
ik2 = Kls('avni')
ik2.printd()
Gives us the following output:
create class
SuperMeta Called
class created
MyMeta called class '__main__.Kls' ('arun',) {}
arun
MyMeta called <class '__main__.Kls' ('avni',) {}
avni