isinstance() and issubclass() return conflicting results

Question

>>> class Hello:
    pass

and

>>> isinstance(Hello,object)
True
>>> issubclass(Hello,object)
False
>         


        

Answer 1

My answer pertains to Python 3.

To expand upon cbare's answer, the code below was helpful for me.

>>> class X:
...     pass
...     
>>> class Y(X):
...     pass
...     
>>> x = X()
>>> y = Y()
>>> isinstance(x, X)  # is object x an instance of class X (or any subclass)?
True
>>> isinstance(x, Y)  # is object x an instance of class Y (or any subclass)?
False
>>> isinstance(y, X)  # is object y an instance of class X (or any subclass)?
True
>>> isinstance(y, Y)  # is object y an instance of class Y (or any subclass)?
True

>>> issubclass(X, X)  # is class X a subclass of X (including class X)?
True
>>> issubclass(X, Y)  # is class X a subclass of Y (including class Y)?
False
>>> issubclass(Y, X)  # is class Y a subclass of X (including class X)?
True
>>> issubclass(Y, Y)  # is class Y a subclass of Y (including class Y)?
True

>>> issubclass(type(x), X)  # is class of object x a subclass of X (including class X)?
True
>>> issubclass(type(x), Y)  # is class of object x a subclass of Y (including class Y)?
False
>>> issubclass(type(y), X)  # is class of object y a subclass of X (including class X)?
True
>>> issubclass(type(y), Y)  # is class of object y a subclass of Y (including class Y)?
True

>>> issubclass(x.__class__, X)  # is class of object x a subclass of X (including class X)?
True
>>> issubclass(x.__class__, Y)  # is class of object x a subclass of Y (including class Y)?
False
>>> issubclass(y.__class__, X)  # is class of object y a subclass of X (including class X)?
True
>>> issubclass(y.__class__, Y)  # is class of object y a subclass of Y (including class Y)?
True

We can see that isinstance(object, class) respects inheritance / subclasses correctly.