# Example of capturing class definition order from collections import OrderedDict # A set of descriptors for various types class Typed: _expected_type = type(None) def __init__(self, name=None): self._name = name def __set__(self, instance, value): if not isinstance(value, self._expected_type): raise TypeError('Expected ' +str(self._expected_type)) instance.__dict__[self._name] = value class Integer(Typed): _expected_type = int class Float(Typed): _expected_type = float class String(Typed): _expected_type = str # Metaclass that uses an OrderedDict for class body class OrderedMeta(type): def __new__(cls, clsname, bases, clsdict): d = dict(clsdict) order = [] for name, value in clsdict.items(): if isinstance(value, Typed): value._name = name order.append(name) d['_order'] = order return type.__new__(cls, clsname, bases, d) @classmethod def __prepare__(cls, clsname, bases): return OrderedDict() # Example class that uses the definition order to initialize members class Structure(metaclass=OrderedMeta): def as_csv(self): return ','.join(str(getattr(self,name)) for name in self._order) # Example use class Stock(Structure): name = String() shares = Integer() price = Float() def __init__(self, name, shares, price): self.name = name self.shares = shares self.price = price if __name__ == '__main__': s = Stock('GOOG',100,490.1) print(s.name) print(s.as_csv()) try: t = Stock('AAPL','a lot', 610.23) except TypeError as e: print(e)