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.
Related
class Channel(object)
channel_mapping = {
'a': 001,
'b': 002,
'c': 003
}
def __init__(self):
...
def process(self, input):
channels = input.split(',')
for channel in channels:
if channel in self.channel_mapping:
channel = self.channel_mapping[channel]
break
...
I defined channel_mapping as class variable, and why do I need to use self to refer to it? I thought I should just use channel_mapping or cls.channel_mapping in the process() function.
Also, to define channel_mapping as a class variable like this, or define it as an instance variable in the initializer, is there any thread safety concern in either case?
I defined 'channel_mapping' as class variable, and why do I need to
use 'self' to refer to it?
You can refer class variable via self (if you ensure it's read-only) and cls inside the class and it's methods and via classes object or instances from outside of the class.
What is the difference between using cls and self? cls is being used in classmethods since they doesn't require initialization and so instance of the object, and self is used inside the methods which do require instances of the object.
I thought I should just use
'channel_mapping'
Scopes inside python doesn't work as in C# for example, where you can call class variable by just writing it's name omitting this where it's redundant. In Python you have to use self to refer to the instance's variable. Same goes to the class variables but with cls (or self) instead.
If you are referencing channel_mapping you are just referencing a variable from the current or a global scopes whether it exists or not and not from the class or it's instance.
or cls.channel_mapping in the 'process' function?
From the class methods you would want for sure to use cls.channel_mapping since cls represents class object. But from the instance's methods, where instead of cls you have self you can refer to the class variable using self.__class__.channel_mapping. What it does is simply returning instance's class which is equal to cls, and calls class variable channel_mapping afterwards.
self.channel_mapping though would return the same result but just because in your code there are no instance attribute called channel_mapping and so python can resolve your reference to the class variable. But if there would be channel_mapping variable inside the instance it won't be any longer related to the original class variables, so in that case you would want to keep channel_mapping read-only.
Summarise, to refer class variable from the class method you would want to just use a cls and to refer class variable from the instance method you better use self.__class__.var construction instead of self.var one.
Also, to define 'channel_mapping' as a class variable like this, or define it as an instance variable in the initializer, is there any thread safety concern in either case?
There are situations when you want to change variables in all instances simultaneously, and that's when class variables comes in handy, you won't need to update every responsible instance variable in every instance, you will just update class variable and that's it.
But speaking of thread safety I'm not really sure will it be simultaneously updated in every thread or not, but self.__class__ will return updated version of a class a soon as it will be updated, so self.__class__ variables will be up to date every time you call it minimizing period within which different threads will use different values of the same variable.
Going up with the initialized variable though, will take longer to update if there are more than one instance so i would consider it less threadsafe.
I'm trying to modify class attribute by reference to object in __init__ method and then use it in another method. Sadly the following code sample doesn't work as expected...
CODE
class Translator:
#list of attributes
parser=None
def __init__(self):
parser = Parser_class() ...
#some other commands
def Translate(self):
something=self.parser.GenerateHead() ...
#more commands
COMPILE ERR
AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'GenerateHead'
I know that I can give it to the Translate method as argument, I'm just curious why this statement within Python doesn't work.
You're doing your instance attributes wrong.
First off, you don't need to declare your attributes ahead of time. Putting parser = None at the top level of the class creates a class variable named parser, which I don't think is what you want. Usually in Python you can add new instance attributes at any time by a simple assignment: instance.attr = "whatever".
Second, when you want to do an instance assignment from within a method, you need to use self to refer to the instance. If you leave off self, you'll be assigning to a local variable inside your function, not to an instance or class variable. Actually, the specific name self isn't necessary, but you do need to use the first argument to the method (and it's probably not a good idea to break the convention of naming that self).
So, to fix your code, do this:
class Translator:
# don't declare variables at class level (unless you actually want class variables)
def __init__(self):
self.parser = Parser_class() # use self to assign an instance attribute
def Translate(self):
something = self.parser.GenerateHead() # this should now work
While researching about python class attribute and instance attribute, I came to know that it's not possible to create object attribute outside object methods (or may be class method). Like code below will generate an "NameError" in python.
class test(object):
def __init__(self):
self.lst = []
self.str = 'xyz'
Why python doesn't allow this? I'm not questioning language creator's decision, but any reason behind this. Like, is it technically incorrect or any other disadvantage of this behavior.
You are defining a class, so there is no instance to point to outside methods. Drop the `self:
class test(object):
def __init__(self):
self.lst = []
str = 'xyz'
self points to the instance, not the class. You either need to create an instance and assign directly to attributes (test().str = 'xyz') or you need to be inside a method (when self can actually refer to an instance).
self is not a special name in python, you could use \
class test(object):
def __init__(foo):
foo.lst = []
If you want. Every method of a class gets the instance explicitly passed to it as the first parameter, you can call it whatever you want. Trying to access a parameter outside the scope of the method obviously won't work.
I have a class sysprops in which I'd like to have a number of constants. However, I'd like to pull the values for those constants from the database, so I'd like some sort of hook any time one of these class constants are accessed (something like the getattribute method for instance variables).
class sysprops(object):
SOME_CONSTANT = 'SOME_VALUE'
sysprops.SOME_CONSTANT # this statement would not return 'SOME_VALUE' but instead a dynamic value pulled from the database.
Although I think it is a very bad idea to do this, it is possible:
class GetAttributeMetaClass(type):
def __getattribute__(self, key):
print 'Getting attribute', key
class sysprops(object):
__metaclass__ = GetAttributeMetaClass
While the other two answers have a valid method. I like to take the route of 'least-magic'.
You can do something similar to the metaclass approach without actually using them. Simply by using a decorator.
def instancer(cls):
return cls()
#instancer
class SysProps(object):
def __getattribute__(self, key):
return key # dummy
This will create an instance of SysProps and then assign it back to the SysProps name. Effectively shadowing the actual class definition and allowing a constant instance.
Since decorators are more common in Python I find this way easier to grasp for other people that have to read your code.
sysprops.SOME_CONSTANT can be the return value of a function if SOME_CONSTANT were a property defined on type(sysprops).
In other words, what you are talking about is commonly done if sysprops were an instance instead of a class.
But here is the kicker -- classes are instances of metaclasses. So everything you know about controlling the behavior of instances through the use of classes applies equally well to controlling the behavior of classes through the use of metaclasses.
Usually the metaclass is type, but you are free to define other metaclasses by subclassing type. If you place a property SOME_CONSTANT in the metaclass, then the instance of that metaclass, e.g. sysprops will have the desired behavior when Python evaluates sysprops.SOME_CONSTANT.
class MetaSysProps(type):
#property
def SOME_CONSTANT(cls):
return 'SOME_VALUE'
class SysProps(object):
__metaclass__ = MetaSysProps
print(SysProps.SOME_CONSTANT)
yields
SOME_VALUE
I know the question header sounds weird, but since English is not my first language, I find it very hard to formalize. However, I might be able to explain it with bit more text.
The problem is, that I'm trying to create a class called "Foo" for example.
# ../myProject/Foo.py
class Foo:
'''Represents an example class for stackoverflow'''
Now all of Foo class' instances have function attribute, which simply holds a function which can be executed via the instance. Also, there's a parameters attribute, a tuple or a list, which holds parameters which should be used when the function gets called.
def __init__(self, function, parameters):
self.function = function
self.parameters = parameters
def callFunction(self):
if self.function:
self.function(*self.parameters)
This seems to be working fine, however, the problem is, that I want to give it a default value, to change an attribute of the instance. I basically wanna do the following:
def __init__(self, function=setattr, \
parameters=(self, "togglableAttribute", not self.togglableAttribute)):
And doing this will raise NameError: name 'self' is not defined. How should I implement this in order for it to work, or should I come up with a workaround?
self is the typical variable name used to describe the instance. However, default arguments are evaluated when the function is created (at class creation time). Of course self doesn't exist yet because the class doesn't even exist yet -- The class is still in the process of being built.
The typical way to do this is to check for a sentinel;
def __init__(self, function=setattr, parameters=None):
if parameters is None:
parameters = (self, "togglableAttribute", not self.togglableAttribute)
See my answer here (and the comments below it) for a discussion of various objects that you can use as your sentinel and the various pros and cons of each.