class __init__ (not instance __init__)

Question

Here's a very simple example of what I'm trying to get around:

class Test(object):
    some_dict = {Test: True}

The problem is that I cannot refer to Test while it's still being defined

Normally, I'd just do this:

class Test(object):
    some_dict = {}
    def __init__(self):
        if self.__class__.some_dict == {}:
            self.__class__.some_dict = {Test: True}

But I never create an instance of this class. It's really just a container to hold a group of related functions and data (I have several of these classes, and I pass around references to them, so it is necessary for Test to be it's own class)

So my question is, how could I refer to Test while it's being defined, or is there something similar to __init__ that get's called as soon as the class is defined? If possible, I want self.some_dict = {Test: True} to remain inside the class definition. This is the only way I know how to do this so far:

class Test(object):
    @classmethod
    def class_init(cls):
        cls.some_dict = {Test: True}
Test.class_init()

Answer 1

The class does in fact not exist while it is being defined. The way the class statement works is that the body of the statement is executed, as a block of code, in a separate namespace. At the end of the execution, that namespace is passed to the metaclass (such as type) and the metaclass creates the class using the namespace as the attributespace.

From your description, it does not sound necessary for Test to be a class. It sounds like it should be a module instead. some_dict is a global -- even if it's a class attribute, there's only one such attribute in your program, so it's not any better than having a global -- and any classmethods you have in the class can just be functions.

If you really want it to be a class, you have three options: set the dict after defining the class:

class Test:
    some_dict = {}
Test.some_dict[Test] = True

Use a class decorator (in Python 2.6 or later):

def set_some_dict(cls):
    cls.some_dict[cls] = True

@set_some_dict
class Test:
    some_dict = {}

Or use a metaclass:

class SomeDictSetterType(type):
    def __init__(self, name, bases, attrs):
        self.some_dict[self] = True
        super(SomeDictSetterType, self).__init__(name, bases, attrs)

class Test(object):
    __metaclass__ = SomeDictSetterType
    some_dict = {}

Answer 2

You could add the some_dict attribute after the main class definition.

class Test(object):
  pass
Test.some_dict = {Test: True}

Answer 3

I've tried to use classes in this way in the past, and it gets ugly pretty quickly (for example, all the methods will need to be class methods or static methods, and you will probably realise eventually that you want to define certain special methods, for which you will have to start using metaclasses). It could make things a lot easier if you just use class instances instead - there aren't really any downsides.

A (weird-looking) alternative to what others have suggested: you could use __new__:

class Test(object):
    def __new__(cls):
        cls.some_dict = {cls: True}

Test()

You could even have __new__ return a reference to the class and use a decorator to call it:

def instantiate(cls):
    return cls()

@instantiate
class Test(object):
    def __new__(cls):
        cls.some_dict = {cls: True}
        return cls