Word.py

class Word(str):
    '''Class for words, defining comparison based on word length.'''

    def __new__(cls, word):
        # Note that we have to use __new__. This is because str is an immutable
        # type, so we have to initialize it early (at creation)
        if ' ' in word:
            print("Value contains spaces. Truncating to first space.")
            word = word[:word.index(' ')] # Word is now all chars before first space
        return str.__new__(cls, word)

    def __gt__(self, other):
        return len(self) > len(other)
    def __lt__(self, other):
        return len(self) < len(other)
    def __ge__(self, other):
        return len(self) >= len(other)
    def __le__(self, other):
        return len(self) <= len(other)


print(Word('foo') == Word('bar'))