3. 数据模型

3.1. 对象、值及类型

对象 是 Python 对数据的抽象。Python 程序中的所有数据，由对象 (或对象之间的关系) 表示 (从某种意义上说，与冯·诺伊曼的 "存储程序计算机" 模型一致，代码也由对象表示)。

每个对象都有标识、类型和值。对象的 identity never changes once it has been created; you may think of it as the object’s address in memory. The is operator compares the identity of two objects; the id() 函数返回其标识的表示整数。

CPython 实现细节： 对于 CPython， id(x) 是内存地址而 x 是存储。

An object’s type determines the operations that the object supports (e.g., “does it have a length?”) and also defines the possible values for objects of that type. The type() function returns an object’s type (which is an object itself). Like its identity, an object’s type 也是不可变的。 [ 1 ]

The value of some objects can change. Objects whose value can change are said to be 可变 ; objects whose value is unchangeable once they are created are called immutable . (The value of an immutable container object that contains a reference to a mutable object can change when the latter’s value is changed; however the container is still considered immutable, because the collection of objects it contains cannot be changed. So, immutability is not strictly the same as having an unchangeable value, it is more subtle.) An object’s mutability is determined by its type; for instance, numbers, strings and tuples are immutable, while dictionaries and lists are mutable.

Objects are never explicitly destroyed; however, when they become unreachable they may be garbage-collected. An implementation is allowed to postpone garbage collection or omit it altogether — it is a matter of implementation quality how garbage collection is implemented, as long as no objects are collected that are still reachable.

CPython 实现细节： CPython currently uses a reference-counting scheme with (optional) delayed detection of cyclically linked garbage, which collects most objects as soon as they become unreachable, but is not guaranteed to collect garbage containing circular references. See the documentation of the gc module for information on controlling the collection of cyclic garbage. Other implementations act differently and CPython may change. Do not depend on immediate finalization of objects when they become unreachable (so you should always close files explicitly).

Note that the use of the implementation’s tracing or debugging facilities may keep objects alive that would normally be collectable. Also note that catching an exception with a try … except statement may keep objects alive.

Some objects contain references to “external” resources such as open files or windows. It is understood that these resources are freed when the object is garbage-collected, but since garbage collection is not guaranteed to happen, such objects also provide an explicit way to release the external resource, usually a close() method. Programs are strongly recommended to explicitly close such objects. The try … finally statement and the with statement provide convenient ways to do this.

Some objects contain references to other objects; these are called containers . Examples of containers are tuples, lists and dictionaries. The references are part of a container’s value. In most cases, when we talk about the value of a container, we imply the values, not the identities of the contained objects; however, when we talk about the mutability of a container, only the identities of the immediately contained objects are implied. So, if an immutable container (like a tuple) contains a reference to a mutable object, its value changes if that mutable object is changed.

Types affect almost all aspects of object behavior. Even the importance of object identity is affected in some sense: for immutable types, operations that compute new values may actually return a reference to any existing object with the same type and value, while for mutable objects this is not allowed. For example, after a = 1; b = 1 , a and b may or may not refer to the same object with the value one, depending on the implementation. This is because int is an immutable type, so the reference to 1 can be reused. This behaviour depends on the implementation used, so should not be relied upon, but is something to be aware of when making use of object identity tests. However, after c = []; d = [] , c and d are guaranteed to refer to two different, unique, newly created empty lists. (Note that e = f = [] assigns the same object to both e and f )。

3.2. 标准类型层次结构

Below is a list of the types that are built into Python. Extension modules (written in C, Java, or other languages, depending on the implementation) can define additional types. Future versions of Python may add types to the type hierarchy (e.g., rational numbers, efficiently stored arrays of integers, etc.), although such additions will often be provided via the standard library instead.

Some of the type descriptions below contain a paragraph listing ‘special attributes.’ These are attributes that provide access to the implementation and are not intended for general use. Their definition may change in the future.

3.2.1. None

This type has a single value. There is a single object with this value. This object is accessed through the built-in name None . It is used to signify the absence of a value in many situations, e.g., it is returned from functions that don’t explicitly return anything. Its truth value is false.

3.2.2. NotImplemented

This type has a single value. There is a single object with this value. This object is accessed through the built-in name NotImplemented . Numeric methods and rich comparison methods should return this value if they do not implement the operation for the operands provided. (The interpreter will then try the reflected operation, or some other fallback, depending on the operator.) It should not be evaluated in a boolean context.

见 实现算术运算 了解更多细节。

3.9 版改变： 估算 NotImplemented 在布尔上下文被弃用。虽然目前将它评估为 True，但会发出 DeprecationWarning 。它将引发 TypeError 在未来 Python 版本中。