Dataclasses are versatile and they're a crucial part of Python. Firstly, as a great data structure - somewhere orderly and documented to store values. Secondly, as a super-convenient way of defining (most) classes, not just data classes. These benefits do come with a cost though, and these costs will need to be mitigated. If people are commonly going to use dataclasses as generic classes, it is especially important that Python teachers and resources clarify the difference between a class attribute and and instance attribute. Different languages handle this in different ways which only adds to the potential for confusion.