Both useful, yes. But consider this: my_instance = SomeClass(args) my_instance.method() vs my_dict = some_mod.thing_new(args) some_mod.function(my_

Both useful, yes. But consider this: my_instance = SomeClass(args) my_instance.method() vs my_dict = some_mod.thing_new(args) some_mod.function(my_dict, args) These are semantically the same things. If you don't believe me, consider this is the same as above class example: SomeClass.method(my_instance) As for the inheritance, you could theoretically insert the "parent" dictionary inside the "child" dictionary and just create a new module for child "methods". But that would be too convoluted and surely unpythonic. My argument goes against OOP, so I would just ignore inheritance.