Add make_namespace function and tests

Author: Jouke Witteveen

docs/advanced/pycpp/object.rst

@@ -20,6 +20,46 @@ Available types include :class:`handle`, :class:`object`, :class:`bool_`,
     Be sure to review the :ref:`pytypes_gotchas` before using this heavily in
     your C++ API.
 
+.. _instantiating_compound_types:
+
+Instantiating compound Python types from C++
+============================================
+
+Dictionaries can be initialized in the :class:`dict` constructor:
+
+.. code-block:: cpp
+
+    using namespace pybind11::literals; // to bring in the `_a` literal
+    py::dict d("spam"_a=py::none(), "eggs"_a=42);
+
+A tuple of python objects can be instantiated using :func:`py::make_tuple`:
+
+.. code-block:: cpp
+
+    py::tuple tup = py::make_tuple(42, py::none(), "spam");
+
+Each element is converted to a supported Python type.
+
+A `simple namespace`_ can be instantiated using :func:`py::make_namespace`:
+
+.. code-block:: cpp
+
+    using namespace pybind11::literals; // to bring in the `_a` literal
+    py::object ns = py::make_namespace("spam"_a=py::none(), "eggs"_a=42);
+
+Attributes on a namespace can be modified with the :func:`py::delattr`,
+:func:`py::getattr`, and :func:`py::setattr` functions. Namespaces can be useful
+as lightweight stand-ins for class instances.
+
+.. note::
+
+    ``make_namespace`` is not available in Python 2.
+
+.. versionchanged:: 2.8
+    ``make_namespace`` added.
+
+.. _simple namespace: https://docs.python.org/3/library/types.html#types.SimpleNamespace
+
 .. _casting_back_and_forth:
 
 Casting back and forth
@@ -30,7 +70,7 @@ types to Python, which can be done using :func:`py::cast`:
 
 .. code-block:: cpp
 
-    MyClass *cls = ..;
+    MyClass *cls = ...;
     py::object obj = py::cast(cls);
 
 The reverse direction uses the following syntax:

include/pybind11/cast.h

@@ -1018,6 +1018,16 @@ template <return_value_policy policy = return_value_policy::automatic_reference,
     return result;
 }
 
+#if PY_VERSION_HEX >= 0x03030000
+template <typename... Args,
+          typename = detail::enable_if_t<args_are_all_keyword_or_ds<Args...>()>>
+object make_namespace(Args&&... args_) {
+    PyObject *ns = _PyNamespace_New(dict(std::forward<Args>(args_)...).ptr());
+    if (!ns) throw error_already_set();
+    return reinterpret_steal<object>(ns);
+}
+#endif
+
 /// \ingroup annotations
 /// Annotation for arguments
 struct arg {

tests/test_pytypes.cpp

@@ -70,6 +70,19 @@ TEST_SUBMODULE(pytypes, m) {
     m.def("dict_contains",
           [](const py::dict &dict, const char *val) { return dict.contains(val); });
 
+    // test_tuple
+    m.def("get_tuple", []() { return py::make_tuple(42, py::none(), "spam"); });
+
+#if PY_VERSION_HEX >= 0x03030000
+    // test_namespace
+    m.def("get_namespace", []() {
+        auto ns = py::make_namespace("attr"_a=42, "x"_a="foo", "wrong"_a=1);
+        py::delattr(ns, "wrong");
+        py::setattr(ns, "right", py::int_(2));
+        return ns;
+    });
+#endif
+
     // test_str
     m.def("str_from_string", []() { return py::str(std::string("baz")); });
     m.def("str_from_bytes", []() { return py::str(py::bytes("boo", 3)); });

tests/test_pytypes.py

@@ -99,6 +99,19 @@ def test_dict(capture, doc):
     assert m.dict_keyword_constructor() == {"x": 1, "y": 2, "z": 3}
 
 
+def test_tuple():
+    assert m.get_tuple() == (42, None, "spam")
+
+
+@pytest.mark.skipif("env.PY2")
+def test_namespace():
+    ns = m.get_namespace()
+    assert ns.attr == 42
+    assert ns.x == "foo"
+    assert ns.right == 2
+    assert not hasattr(ns, "wrong")
+
+
 def test_str(doc):
     assert m.str_from_string().encode().decode() == "baz"
     assert m.str_from_bytes().encode().decode() == "boo"