didn't implement ``__slots__``, and therefore meant all subclasses
of that class didn't either, negating the rationale for ``__slots__``
to be in use.  Didn't cause any issue except on IronPython
which apparently does not implement ``__slots__`` behavior compatibly
with cPython.
Fixes #3494

that a Python descriptor is no longer used; repairs inspectability
of these methods including support for Sphinx documentation.

has been liberalized to warn for values that aren't even string
values, such as integers; previously, the updated warning system
of 1.0 made use of string formatting operations which
would raise an internal TypeError.   While these cases should ideally
raise totally, some backends like SQLite and MySQL do accept them
and are potentially in use by legacy code, not to mention that they
will always pass through if unicode conversion is turned off
for the target backend.
fixes #3346

now be constructed such that the visit methods receive an indication
of the owning expression object, if any.  Any visit method that
accepts keyword arguments (e.g. ``**kw``) will in most cases
receive a keyword argument ``type_expression``, referring to the
expression object that the type is contained within.  For columns
in DDL, the dialect's compiler class may need to alter its
``get_column_specification()`` method to support this as well.
The ``UserDefinedType.get_col_spec()`` method will also receive
``type_expression`` if it provides ``**kw`` in its argument
signature.
fixes #3074

for memoization on a class that uses slots.
- apply many more __slots__.  mem use for nova now at 46% savings

through all possible set values

assume that the empty string, or a set with a single empty string
value, is in fact a set with a single empty string; instead, this
is by default treated as the empty set.  In order to handle persistence
of a :class:`.mysql.SET` that actually wants to include the blank
value ``''`` as a legitimate value, a new bitwise operational mode
is added which is enabled by the
:paramref:`.mysql.SET.retrieve_as_bitwise` flag, which will persist
and retrieve values unambiguously using their bitflag positioning.
Storage and retrieval of unicode values for driver configurations
that aren't converting unicode natively is also repaired.
fixes #3283

ORM functions that are derived as "public factory" symbols, which
should assist with documentation tools being able to report on the
target module.
fixes #3218