Question

class Node(object):
    def __init__(self, data):
        self.data = data

if __name__ == "__main__":
    a = Node(5)
    print a # prints __main__.Node object at 0x025C7530
    print a.__dict__ # how can I turn this back into the previous line?

Is there anyway to turn the dict back into the object?

Answer 1

For some types of objects, you can get an identical object (not the object itself, but a copy):

class Node(object):
    def __init__(self, data):
        self.data = data

if __name__ == "__main__":
    a = Node(5)
    a = a.__dict__ #whoops, now I lost the object, I just have the dict
    b = Node.__new__(Node) # make a new empty object
    b.__dict__ = a.copy() # copy in the dict
    # copy because there might still a reference to the object elsewhere
    # if you want changes to b to affect a, then don't copy just assign
    print b.__dict__
    print b