python beginner : better to make a method or a function - python

i have a class that will make multiple instances. whats the difference between making a method and calling that method versus making a class and a function then using that function on the class? Does the first cost more memory because the method is "instantiated"?
Example:
class myclass:
def __init__(self):
self.a=0
def mymethod:
print self.a
inst1=myclass()
myclass.mymethod
versus:
class myclass:
def __init__(self):
self.a=0
def myfunction(instance):
print instance.a
inst1=myclass()
myfunction(inst1)

Methods are really just functions that always receive a class instance as a first parameter (and happen to be declared within the scope of a class). The code of a method is shared across all instances, so you won't be "instantiating" a method every time you make a class instance.
So, they are really equivalent; you use whatever is the clearest expression of your intent (readability counts!). If you are writing a function that always takes an instance of a specific class as an argument, it is probably clearest expressed as a method. If the function can operate on many different kinds of classes, it may be clearest as a function.

Related

Python static method wrapper is unnecessary? [duplicate]

I just can't see why do we need to use #staticmethod. Let's start with an exmaple.
class test1:
def __init__(self,value):
self.value=value
#staticmethod
def static_add_one(value):
return value+1
#property
def new_val(self):
self.value=self.static_add_one(self.value)
return self.value
a=test1(3)
print(a.new_val) ## >>> 4
class test2:
def __init__(self,value):
self.value=value
def static_add_one(self,value):
return value+1
#property
def new_val(self):
self.value=self.static_add_one(self.value)
return self.value
b=test2(3)
print(b.new_val) ## >>> 4
In the example above, the method, static_add_one , in the two classes do not require the instance of the class(self) in calculation.
The method static_add_one in the class test1 is decorated by #staticmethod and work properly.
But at the same time, the method static_add_one in the class test2 which has no #staticmethod decoration also works properly by using a trick that provides a self in the argument but doesn't use it at all.
So what is the benefit of using #staticmethod? Does it improve the performance? Or is it just due to the zen of python which states that "Explicit is better than implicit"?
The reason to use staticmethod is if you have something that could be written as a standalone function (not part of any class), but you want to keep it within the class because it's somehow semantically related to the class. (For instance, it could be a function that doesn't require any information from the class, but whose behavior is specific to the class, so that subclasses might want to override it.) In many cases, it could make just as much sense to write something as a standalone function instead of a staticmethod.
Your example isn't really the same. A key difference is that, even though you don't use self, you still need an instance to call static_add_one --- you can't call it directly on the class with test2.static_add_one(1). So there is a genuine difference in behavior there. The most serious "rival" to a staticmethod isn't a regular method that ignores self, but a standalone function.
Today I suddenly find a benefit of using #staticmethod.
If you created a staticmethod within a class, you don't need to create an instance of the class before using the staticmethod.
For example,
class File1:
def __init__(self, path):
out=self.parse(path)
def parse(self, path):
..parsing works..
return x
class File2:
def __init__(self, path):
out=self.parse(path)
#staticmethod
def parse(path):
..parsing works..
return x
if __name__=='__main__':
path='abc.txt'
File1.parse(path) #TypeError: unbound method parse() ....
File2.parse(path) #Goal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Since the method parse is strongly related to the classes File1 and File2, it is more natural to put it inside the class. However, sometimes this parse method may also be used in other classes under some circumstances. If you want to do so using File1, you must create an instance of File1 before calling the method parse. While using staticmethod in the class File2, you may directly call the method by using the syntax File2.parse.
This makes your works more convenient and natural.
I will add something other answers didn't mention. It's not only a matter of modularity, of putting something next to other logically related parts. It's also that the method could be non-static at other point of the hierarchy (i.e. in a subclass or superclass) and thus participate in polymorphism (type based dispatching). So if you put that function outside the class you will be precluding subclasses from effectively overriding it. Now, say you realize you don't need self in function C.f of class C, you have three two options:
Put it outside the class. But we just decided against this.
Do nothing new: while unused, still keep the self parameter.
Declare you are not using the self parameter, while still letting other C methods to call f as self.f, which is required if you wish to keep open the possibility of further overrides of f that do depend on some instance state.
Option 2 demands less conceptual baggage (you already have to know about self and methods-as-bound-functions, because it's the more general case). But you still may prefer to be explicit about self not being using (and the interpreter could even reward you with some optimization, not having to partially apply a function to self). In that case, you pick option 3 and add #staticmethod on top of your function.
Use #staticmethod for methods that don't need to operate on a specific object, but that you still want located in the scope of the class (as opposed to module scope).
Your example in test2.static_add_one wastes its time passing an unused self parameter, but otherwise works the same as test1.static_add_one. Note that this extraneous parameter can't be optimized away.
One example I can think of is in a Django project I have, where a model class represents a database table, and an object of that class represents a record. There are some functions used by the class that are stand-alone and do not need an object to operate on, for example a function that converts a title into a "slug", which is a representation of the title that follows the character set limits imposed by URL syntax. The function that converts a title to a slug is declared as a staticmethod precisely to strongly associate it with the class that uses it.

Proper way to define function in a class that does not use self value

I am new to opp programming.I wanted to know what to do with a function that is inside the class but does not use self value
For example
class example:
def __init__(self,n):
self.number=n
def get_t(self,t):
return t*t
def main(self):
b=1
k=self.get_t(b)
From the example the function get_t has nothing to do with self value.
So I wanted to know where to place the function get_t or may be how to restructure the class.
Thank you for your consideration
What you're looking for are static methods. To declare a method static do it like this
#staticmethod
def foo():
pass
Nothing. Just let it be, Python won't complain about it and there's nothing fundamentally wrong about methods that doesn't use its instance. If your linter complains about it, you can shut up that warning. These kind of helper functions are often intended to be private methods that aren't intended to be used externally, you may want to prefix the name with underscore to indicate that.
Convert it into a free function. Python is an OOP language, but it's also a mixed paradigm language, unlike Java, for example, you can actually create a function outside of a class declaration. Pythonic code does not necessarily means putting everything into classes, and often a free function is perfectly suitable place for functions that doesn't involve a particular object instance.
def get_t(t):
return t*t
class example:
def main(self):
b=1
k=self.get_t(b)
If you want to be able to call it from the class by doing Example.get_t(blah) without having to have an instance, then you can either use the staticmethod or classmethod decorator. I suggest using classmethod which can do everything that staticmethod can do while the reverse isn't true and it's easier to make classmethod work correctly when you need to override it in a multi inheritance situation. staticmethod has a very tiny performance advantage, but you're microoptimizing if that's your concern.
class example:
#classmethod
def get_t(cls, t):
return t*t
def main(self):
b=1
k=self.get_t(b)
If get_t() is only being called from one method, you can put it as an inner function of that method:
class example:
def main(self):
def get_t(t):
return t * t
b=1
k=self.get_t(b)
With regards to naming, get_xxx is usually a code smell in python. The get_ prefix indicates that the method is likely a getter, and pythonic code usually don't use getters/setters, because the language supports property. What you have on here though, isn't actually a getter but rather a computation method, so it shouldn't be prefixed with get_. A better name might be calculate_t(t) or square(t).
Case 1: If self is there:-
class example:
def get_t(self,t):
return t*t
Then You can not access get_t function directly from class example like example.get_t(t=2) ,it will give you error. But you can access now by creating an object of class like q = example() and then q.get_t(t=2) , it will give you your desired result.
Case 2 : If self is not there:-
class example:
def get_t(t):
return t*t
Now You can directly access get_t function by class example like example.get_t(t=2) ,it will give you your desired result. But now you cannot use get_t function by creating object like q = example() then q.get_t(t=2) it will give you error.
Conclusion :- It all depends on your use case. But when you struck in this type of ambiguity use #staticmethod like given below:-
class example:
#staticmethod
def get_t(t):
return t*t
I hope it may help you.

When should one use a class method over instance method? [duplicate]

While integrating a Django app I have not used before, I found two different ways to define functions inside the class. The author seems to use them both distinctively and intentionally. The first one is the one that I myself use a lot:
class Dummy(object):
def some_function(self, *args, **kwargs):
# do something here
# self is the class instance
The other one is the one I never use, mostly because I do not understand when and what to use it for:
class Dummy(object):
#classmethod
def some_function(cls, *args, **kwargs):
# do something here
# cls refers to what?
The classmethod decorator in the python documentation says:
A class method receives the class as the implicit first argument, just
like an instance method receives the instance.
So I guess cls refers to Dummy itself (the class, not the instance). I do not exactly understand why this exists, because I could always do this:
type(self).do_something_with_the_class
Is this just for the sake of clarity, or did I miss the most important part: spooky and fascinating things that couldn't be done without it?
Your guess is correct - you understand how classmethods work.
The why is that these methods can be called both on an instance OR on the class (in both cases, the class object will be passed as the first argument):
class Dummy(object):
#classmethod
def some_function(cls,*args,**kwargs):
print cls
#both of these will have exactly the same effect
Dummy.some_function()
Dummy().some_function()
On the use of these on instances: There are at least two main uses for calling a classmethod on an instance:
self.some_function() will call the version of some_function on the actual type of self, rather than the class in which that call happens to appear (and won't need attention if the class is renamed); and
In cases where some_function is necessary to implement some protocol, but is useful to call on the class object alone.
The difference with staticmethod: There is another way of defining methods that don't access instance data, called staticmethod. That creates a method which does not receive an implicit first argument at all; accordingly it won't be passed any information about the instance or class on which it was called.
In [6]: class Foo(object): some_static = staticmethod(lambda x: x+1)
In [7]: Foo.some_static(1)
Out[7]: 2
In [8]: Foo().some_static(1)
Out[8]: 2
In [9]: class Bar(Foo): some_static = staticmethod(lambda x: x*2)
In [10]: Bar.some_static(1)
Out[10]: 2
In [11]: Bar().some_static(1)
Out[11]: 2
The main use I've found for it is to adapt an existing function (which doesn't expect to receive a self) to be a method on a class (or object).
One of the most common uses of classmethod in Python is factories, which are one of the most efficient methods to build an object. Because classmethods, like staticmethods, do not need the construction of a class instance. (But then if we use staticmethod, we would have to hardcode the instance class name in the function)
This blog does a great job of explaining it:
https://iscinumpy.gitlab.io/post/factory-classmethods-in-python/
If you add decorator #classmethod, That means you are going to make that method as static method of java or C++. ( static method is a general term I guess ;) )
Python also has #staticmethod. and difference between classmethod and staticmethod is whether you can
access to class or static variable using argument or classname itself.
class TestMethod(object):
cls_var = 1
#classmethod
def class_method(cls):
cls.cls_var += 1
print cls.cls_var
#staticmethod
def static_method():
TestMethod.cls_var += 1
print TestMethod.cls_var
#call each method from class itself.
TestMethod.class_method()
TestMethod.static_method()
#construct instances
testMethodInst1 = TestMethod()
testMethodInst2 = TestMethod()
#call each method from instances
testMethodInst1.class_method()
testMethodInst2.static_method()
all those classes increase cls.cls_var by 1 and print it.
And every classes using same name on same scope or instances constructed with these class is going to share those methods.
There's only one TestMethod.cls_var
and also there's only one TestMethod.class_method() , TestMethod.static_method()
And important question. why these method would be needed.
classmethod or staticmethod is useful when you make that class as a factory
or when you have to initialize your class only once. like open file once, and using feed method to read the file line by line.

Multiple ways to define a class method in Python?

In Dive Into Python, Mark Pilgrim says that:
When defining your class methods, you must explicitly list self as the first argument for each method
He then gives a few examples of this in code:
def clear(self): self.data.clear()
def copy(self):
if self.__class__ is UserDict:
return UserDict(self.data)
import copy
return copy.copy(self)
While going through some Python code online, I came across the #classmethod decorator. An example of that is:
class Logger:
#classmethod
def debug(msg):
print "DEBUG: " + msg
(Notice that there is no self parameter in the debug function)
Is there any difference in defining class methods using self as the first parameter and using the #classmethod decorator? If not, is one way of defining class methods more commonly used/preferred over another?
#classmethod isn't the same as defining an instance method. Functions defined with #classmethod receive the class as the first argument, as opposed to an instance method which receives a specific instance. See the Python docs here for more information.
self is not and will never will be implicit.
"self will not become implicit.
Having self be explicit is a good thing. It makes the code clear by removing ambiguity about how a variable resolves. It also makes the difference between functions and methods small."
http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-3099/

Classes in python, how to set an attributes

When I write class in python, most of the time, I am eager to set variables I use, as properties of the object. Is there any rule or general guidelines about which variables should be used as class/instance attribute and which should not?
for example:
class simple(object):
def __init(self):
a=2
b=3
return a*b
class simple(object):
def __init(self):
self.a=2
self.b=3
return a*b
While I completely understand the attributes should be a property of the object. This is simple to understand when the class declaration is simple but as the program goes longer and longer and there are many places where the data exchange between various modules should be done, I get confused on where I should use a/b or self.a/self.b. Is there any guidelines for this?
Where you use self.a you are creating a property, so this can be accessed from outside the class and persists beyond that function. These should be used for storing data about the object.
Where you use a it is a local variable, and only lasts while in the scope of that function, so should be used where you are only using it within the function (as in this case).
Note that __init is misleading, as it looks like __init__ - but isn't the constructor. If you intended them to be the constructor, then it makes no sense to return a value (as the new object is what is returned).
class Person(object):
def __init__(self, name):
# Introduce all instance variables on __init__
self.name = name
self.another = None
def get_name(self):
# get_name has access to the `instance` variable 'name'
return self.name
So if you want a variable to be available on more than one method, make
it an instance variable.
Notice my comment on introducing all instance vars on __init__.
Although the example below is valid python don't do it.
class Person(object):
def __init__(self):
self.a = 0
def foo(self):
self.b = 1 # Whoa, introduced new instance variable
Instead initialize all your instance variables on __init__ and set
them to None if no other value is appropriate for them.
I try to imagine what I want the API of my class to look like prior to implementing it. I think to myself, If I didn't write this class, would I want to read the documentation about what this particular variable does? If reading that documentation would simply waste my time, then it should probably be a local variable.
Occasionally, you need to preserve some information, but you wouldn't necessarily want that to be part of the API, which is when you use the convention of appending an underscore. e.g. self._some_data_that_is_not_part_of_the_api.
The self parameter refers to the object itself. So if you need to use on of the class attributes outside of the class you would it call it as the name of class instance and the attribute name. I don't think there is any guideline on when to use self, it all depends on your need. When you are building a class you should try to think about what you will use the variables you creating for. If you know for sure that you will need that specific attribute in the program you are importing your class, then add self.

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