id	summary	reporter	owner	description	type	status	component	version	severity	resolution	keywords	cc	stage	has_patch	needs_docs	needs_tests	needs_better_patch	easy	ui_ux
35224	Make GenericForeignKey a subclass of Field	Adam Johnson	Adam Johnson	"When introduced in bca5327b21eb2e3ee18292cbe532d6d0071201d8, GenericForeignKey was created as its own class. Since then, it has grown to resemble a field, particularly in fb48eb05816b1ac87d58696cdfe48be18c901f16.

GenericForeignKey *not* being a `Field` leads to several issues:
1. It is added as a “field” and returned by `Model._meta.get_fields()`, a type confusion [https://github.com/typeddjango/django-stubs/blob/5a8e7b3855ea6f7be2b2ab928d02eff9a748d917/django-stubs/db/models/options.pyi#L122-L124 reflected in django-stubs].
2. It duplicates code, such as `_check_field_name()`.
3. It misses methods like `__repr__()`.

I think we should make it a subclass of `Field`.

(`GenericRelation` has always been a subclass of `Field`.)"	Cleanup/optimization	closed	contrib.contenttypes	dev	Normal	fixed			Ready for checkin	1	0	0	0	0	0