Class Objects

  In Class(y), every class is associated with a class object. Class
  objects are very important - without them, you would not be able to create
  new objects.

  A class object contains details of the class it is associated with, such
  as its name and details of its structure. The values of the class
  variables that have been defined for a class are stored in its class
  object, along with the values of class variables inherited from its
  ancestor classes.

  A class object responds to messages associated with any class variables
  and class methods that have been defined for that class.

  A reference to a class object can be obtained in one of the following
  ways:

  .  by calling a class function (see next section)

  .  by sending the class message to an object

  .  by accessing self inside a class method

  The following sections deal with various aspects of classes and class
  objects in more depth.