the many uses of type

Use #1: call type to get the type of something
>>> type(5)
<type 'int'>
>>> type([])
<type 'list'>

Use #2: call type to construct a new type, more dynamic alternative to class keyword

>>> class A(object): pass

...

>>> bases = (A,)

>>> attributes = {"one": 1}

>>> B = type("B", bases, attributes)

>>> B().one

1

Use #3: type is the type of (new-style) classes, and built-ins

>>> class A(object): pass

...

>>> type(A)

<type 'type'>

>>> type(int)

<type 'type'>

>>> type(int) == type

True

Use #4: inherit from type to make a meta-class

>>> class Meta(type):

...    def __new__(cls, name, bases, dct):

...       print "hello meta world"

...       return type.__new__(cls, name, bases, dct)

...

>>> class A(object):

...    __metaclass__ = Meta

...

hello meta world