document that iris.coords.Coord is an ABC

docs/iris/src/whatsnew/latest.rst

@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ This document explains the changes made to Iris for this release
 
 #. `@gcaria`_ fixed :meth:`~iris.cube.Cube.cell_measure_dims` to also accept the
    string name of a :class:`~iris.coords.CellMeasure`. (:pull:`3931`)
+
 #. `@gcaria`_ fixed :meth:`~iris.cube.Cube.ancillary_variable_dims` to also accept
    the string name of a :class:`~iris.coords.AncillaryVariable`. (:pull:`3931`)
 
@@ -68,10 +69,12 @@ This document explains the changes made to Iris for this release
 📚 Documentation
 ================
 
-#. `@rcomer`_ updated the "Seasonal ensemble model plots" Gallery example.
-   (:pull:`3933`)
-#. `@MHBalsmeier`_ Described non-conda installation on Debian-based distros.
-   (:pull:`3958`)
+#. `@rcomer`_ updated the "Seasonal ensemble model plots" Gallery example. (:pull:`3933`)
+
+#. `@MHBalsmeier`_ described non-conda installation on Debian-based distros. (:pull:`3958`)
+
+#. `@bjlittle`_ clarified in the doc-string that :class:`~iris.coords.Coord` is now an `abstract base class`_ of
+   coordinates since ``v3.0.0``, and it is **not** possible to create an instance of it. (:pull:`3971`)
 
 
 💼 Internal
@@ -80,10 +83,21 @@ This document explains the changes made to Iris for this release
 #. `@rcomer`_ removed an old unused test file. (:pull:`3913`)
 
 
+.. only:: Comment
 
-.. _GitHub: https://github.com/SciTools/iris/issues/new/choose
-.. _@pelson: https://github.com/pelson
-.. _@trexfeathers: https://github.com/trexfeathers
+    What's new author names (@github name):
+
+.. _@bjlittle: https://github.com/bjlittle
 .. _@gcaria: https://github.com/gcaria
-.. _@rcomer: https://github.com/rcomer
 .. _@MHBalsmeier: https://github.com/MHBalsmeier
+.. _@pelson: https://github.com/pelson
+.. _@rcomer: https://github.com/rcomer
+.. _@trexfeathers: https://github.com/trexfeathers
+
+
+.. only:: Comment
+
+    What's new resources:
+
+.. _GitHub: https://github.com/SciTools/iris/issues/new/choose
+.. _abstract base class: https://docs.python.org/3/library/abc.html

docs/iris/src/whatsnew/latest.rst.template

@@ -79,9 +79,18 @@ This document explains the changes made to Iris for this release
 💼 Internal
 ===========
 
-* N/A
+#. N/A
+
+
+.. only:: Comment
+
+    What's new author names (@github name):
+
+
 
 
+.. only:: Comment
 
+    What's new resources:
 
 .. _GitHub: https://github.com/SciTools/iris/issues/new/choose

lib/iris/coords.py

@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@
 from collections import namedtuple
 from collections.abc import Iterator
 import copy
-from functools import wraps
 from itertools import chain, zip_longest
 import operator
 import warnings
@@ -1272,7 +1271,7 @@ def contains_point(self, point):
 
 class Coord(_DimensionalMetadata):
     """
-    Superclass for coordinates.
+    Abstract base class for coordinates.
 
     """
 
@@ -1291,7 +1290,7 @@ def __init__(
     ):
 
         """
-        Constructs a single coordinate.
+        Coordinate abstract base class. As of ``v3.0.0`` you **cannot** create an instance of :class:`Coord`.
 
         Args:
 
@@ -1313,17 +1312,17 @@ def __init__(
         * bounds
             An array of values describing the bounds of each cell. Given n
             bounds for each cell, the shape of the bounds array should be
-            points.shape + (n,). For example, a 1d coordinate with 100 points
+            points.shape + (n,). For example, a 1D coordinate with 100 points
             and two bounds per cell would have a bounds array of shape
             (100, 2)
             Note if the data is a climatology, `climatological`
             should be set.
         * attributes
-            A dictionary containing other cf and user-defined attributes.
+            A dictionary containing other CF and user-defined attributes.
         * coord_system
             A :class:`~iris.coord_systems.CoordSystem` representing the
             coordinate system of the coordinate,
-            e.g. a :class:`~iris.coord_systems.GeogCS` for a longitude Coord.
+            e.g., a :class:`~iris.coord_systems.GeogCS` for a longitude coordinate.
         * climatological (bool):
             When True: the coordinate is a NetCDF climatological time axis.
             When True: saving in NetCDF will give the coordinate variable a
@@ -2250,7 +2249,8 @@ def _xml_id_extra(self, unique_value):
 
 class DimCoord(Coord):
     """
-    A coordinate that is 1D, numeric, and strictly monotonic.
+    A coordinate that is 1D, and numeric, with values that have a strict monotonic ordering. Missing values are not
+    permitted in a :class:`DimCoord`.
 
     """
 
@@ -2275,7 +2275,7 @@ def from_regular(
         optionally bounds.
 
         The majority of the arguments are defined as for
-        :meth:`Coord.__init__`, but those which differ are defined below.
+        :class:`Coord`, but those which differ are defined below.
 
         Args:
 
@@ -2336,8 +2336,9 @@ def __init__(
         climatological=False,
     ):
         """
-        Create a 1D, numeric, and strictly monotonic :class:`Coord` with
-        read-only points and bounds.
+        Create a 1D, numeric, and strictly monotonic coordinate with **immutable** points and bounds.
+
+        Missing values are not permitted.
 
         Args:
 
@@ -2369,11 +2370,11 @@ def __init__(
             Note if the data is a climatology, `climatological`
             should be set.
         * attributes:
-            A dictionary containing other cf and user-defined attributes.
+            A dictionary containing other CF and user-defined attributes.
         * coord_system:
             A :class:`~iris.coord_systems.CoordSystem` representing the
             coordinate system of the coordinate,
-            e.g. a :class:`~iris.coord_systems.GeogCS` for a longitude Coord.
+            e.g., a :class:`~iris.coord_systems.GeogCS` for a longitude coordinate.
         * circular (bool):
             Whether the coordinate wraps by the :attr:`~iris.coords.DimCoord.units.modulus`
             i.e., the longitude coordinate wraps around the full great circle.
@@ -2624,15 +2625,54 @@ class AuxCoord(Coord):
     """
     A CF auxiliary coordinate.
 
-    .. note::
-
-        There are currently no specific properties of :class:`AuxCoord`,
-        everything is inherited from :class:`Coord`.
-
     """
 
-    @wraps(Coord.__init__, assigned=("__doc__",), updated=())
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        """
+        Create a coordinate with **mutable** points and bounds.
+
+        Args:
+
+        * points:
+            The values (or value in the case of a scalar coordinate) for each
+            cell of the coordinate.
+
+        Kwargs:
+
+        * standard_name:
+            CF standard name of the coordinate.
+        * long_name:
+            Descriptive name of the coordinate.
+        * var_name:
+            The netCDF variable name for the coordinate.
+        * units
+            The :class:`~cf_units.Unit` of the coordinate's values.
+            Can be a string, which will be converted to a Unit object.
+        * bounds
+            An array of values describing the bounds of each cell. Given n
+            bounds for each cell, the shape of the bounds array should be
+            points.shape + (n,). For example, a 1D coordinate with 100 points
+            and two bounds per cell would have a bounds array of shape
+            (100, 2)
+            Note if the data is a climatology, `climatological`
+            should be set.
+        * attributes
+            A dictionary containing other CF and user-defined attributes.
+        * coord_system
+            A :class:`~iris.coord_systems.CoordSystem` representing the
+            coordinate system of the coordinate,
+            e.g., a :class:`~iris.coord_systems.GeogCS` for a longitude coordinate.
+        * climatological (bool):
+            When True: the coordinate is a NetCDF climatological time axis.
+            When True: saving in NetCDF will give the coordinate variable a
+            'climatology' attribute and will create a boundary variable called
+            '<coordinate-name>_climatology' in place of a standard bounds
+            attribute and bounds variable.
+            Will set to True when a climatological time axis is loaded
+            from NetCDF.
+            Always False if no bounds exist.
+
+        """
         super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
 
     # Logically, :class:`Coord` is an abstract class and all actual coords must