Patch # 1026 by Benjamin Aranguren (with Alex Martelli):
Backport abc.py and isinstance/issubclass overloading to 2.6.

I had to backport test_typechecks.py myself, and make one small change
to abc.py to avoid duplicate work when x.__class__ and type(x) are the
same.
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_abc.py b/Lib/test/test_abc.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3fd9bde
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Lib/test/test_abc.py
@@ -0,0 +1,142 @@
+# Copyright 2007 Google, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+# Licensed to PSF under a Contributor Agreement.
+
+"""Unit tests for abc.py."""
+
+import sys
+import unittest
+from test import test_support
+
+import abc
+__metaclass__ = type
+
+
+class TestABC(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def test_abstractmethod_basics(self):
+        @abc.abstractmethod
+        def foo(self): pass
+        self.assertEqual(foo.__isabstractmethod__, True)
+        def bar(self): pass
+        self.assertEqual(hasattr(bar, "__isabstractmethod__"), False)
+
+    def test_abstractproperty_basics(self):
+        @abc.abstractproperty
+        def foo(self): pass
+        self.assertEqual(foo.__isabstractmethod__, True)
+        def bar(self): pass
+        self.assertEqual(hasattr(bar, "__isabstractmethod__"), False)
+
+        class C:
+            __metaclass__ = abc.ABCMeta
+            @abc.abstractproperty
+            def foo(self): return 3
+        class D(C):
+            @property
+            def foo(self): return super(D, self).foo
+        self.assertEqual(D().foo, 3)
+
+    def test_abstractmethod_integration(self):
+        for abstractthing in [abc.abstractmethod, abc.abstractproperty]:
+            class C:
+                __metaclass__ = abc.ABCMeta
+                @abstractthing
+                def foo(self): pass  # abstract
+                def bar(self): pass  # concrete
+            self.assertEqual(C.__abstractmethods__, set(["foo"]))
+            self.assertRaises(TypeError, C)  # because foo is abstract
+            class D(C):
+                def bar(self): pass  # concrete override of concrete
+            self.assertEqual(D.__abstractmethods__, set(["foo"]))
+            self.assertRaises(TypeError, D)  # because foo is still abstract
+            class E(D):
+                def foo(self): pass
+            self.assertEqual(E.__abstractmethods__, set())
+            E()  # now foo is concrete, too
+            class F(E):
+                @abstractthing
+                def bar(self): pass  # abstract override of concrete
+            self.assertEqual(F.__abstractmethods__, set(["bar"]))
+            self.assertRaises(TypeError, F)  # because bar is abstract now
+
+    def test_registration_basics(self):
+        class A:
+            __metaclass__ = abc.ABCMeta
+        class B:
+            pass
+        b = B()
+        self.assertEqual(issubclass(B, A), False)
+        self.assertEqual(isinstance(b, A), False)
+        A.register(B)
+        self.assertEqual(issubclass(B, A), True)
+        self.assertEqual(isinstance(b, A), True)
+        class C(B):
+            pass
+        c = C()
+        self.assertEqual(issubclass(C, A), True)
+        self.assertEqual(isinstance(c, A), True)
+
+    def test_registration_builtins(self):
+        class A:
+            __metaclass__ = abc.ABCMeta
+        A.register(int)
+        self.assertEqual(isinstance(42, A), True)
+        self.assertEqual(issubclass(int, A), True)
+        class B(A):
+            pass
+        B.register(basestring)
+        self.assertEqual(isinstance("", A), True)
+        self.assertEqual(issubclass(str, A), True)
+
+    def test_registration_edge_cases(self):
+        class A:
+            __metaclass__ = abc.ABCMeta
+        A.register(A)  # should pass silently
+        class A1(A):
+            pass
+        self.assertRaises(RuntimeError, A1.register, A)  # cycles not allowed
+        class B:
+            pass
+        A1.register(B)  # ok
+        A1.register(B)  # should pass silently
+        class C(A):
+            pass
+        A.register(C)  # should pass silently
+        self.assertRaises(RuntimeError, C.register, A)  # cycles not allowed
+        C.register(B)  # ok
+
+    def test_registration_transitiveness(self):
+        class A:
+            __metaclass__ = abc.ABCMeta
+        self.failUnless(issubclass(A, A))
+        class B:
+            __metaclass__ = abc.ABCMeta
+        self.failIf(issubclass(A, B))
+        self.failIf(issubclass(B, A))
+        class C:
+            __metaclass__ = abc.ABCMeta
+        A.register(B)
+        class B1(B):
+            pass
+        self.failUnless(issubclass(B1, A))
+        class C1(C):
+            pass
+        B1.register(C1)
+        self.failIf(issubclass(C, B))
+        self.failIf(issubclass(C, B1))
+        self.failUnless(issubclass(C1, A))
+        self.failUnless(issubclass(C1, B))
+        self.failUnless(issubclass(C1, B1))
+        C1.register(int)
+        class MyInt(int):
+            pass
+        self.failUnless(issubclass(MyInt, A))
+        self.failUnless(isinstance(42, A))
+
+
+def test_main():
+    test_support.run_unittest(TestABC)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_typechecks.py b/Lib/test/test_typechecks.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..21be62d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Lib/test/test_typechecks.py
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+"""Unit tests for __instancecheck__ and __subclasscheck__."""
+
+import unittest
+from test import test_support
+
+
+class ABC(type):
+
+    def __instancecheck__(cls, inst):
+        """Implement isinstance(inst, cls)."""
+        return any(cls.__subclasscheck__(c)
+                   for c in set([type(inst), inst.__class__]))
+
+    def __subclasscheck__(cls, sub):
+        """Implement issubclass(sub, cls)."""
+        candidates = cls.__dict__.get("__subclass__", set()) | set([cls])
+        return any(c in candidates for c in sub.mro())
+
+
+class Integer:
+
+    __metaclass__ = ABC
+
+    __subclass__ = set([int])
+
+
+class SubInt(Integer):
+
+    pass
+
+
+class Evil:
+    def __instancecheck__(self, inst): return False
+
+
+class TypeChecksTest(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def testIsSubclassInternal(self):
+        self.assertEqual(Integer.__subclasscheck__(int), True)
+        self.assertEqual(Integer.__subclasscheck__(float), False)
+
+    def testIsSubclassBuiltin(self):
+        self.assertEqual(issubclass(int, Integer), True)
+        self.assertEqual(issubclass(float, Integer), False)
+
+    def testIsInstanceBuiltin(self):
+        self.assertEqual(isinstance(42, Integer), True)
+        self.assertEqual(isinstance(3.14, Integer), False)
+
+    def testIsInstanceActual(self):
+        self.assertEqual(isinstance(Integer(), Integer), True)
+
+    def testIsSubclassActual(self):
+        self.assertEqual(issubclass(Integer, Integer), True)
+
+    def testSubclassBehavior(self):
+        self.assertEqual(issubclass(SubInt, Integer), True)
+        self.assertEqual(issubclass(SubInt, SubInt), True)
+        self.assertEqual(issubclass(Integer, SubInt), False)
+        self.assertEqual(issubclass(int, SubInt), False)
+        self.assertEqual(isinstance(SubInt(), Integer), True)
+        self.assertEqual(isinstance(SubInt(), SubInt), True)
+        self.assertEqual(isinstance(42, SubInt), False)
+
+    def testInfiniteRecursionCaughtProperly(self):
+        e = Evil()
+        # This invokes isinstance() recursively, until the stack is exhausted.
+        self.assertRaises(RuntimeError, isinstance, e, Evil)
+        # XXX How to check the same situation for issubclass()?
+
+
+def test_main():
+    test_support.run_unittest(TypeChecksTest)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()