CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonpython-2.7
puttputt
puttputt

Reputation: 1269

Is it better to instantiate a new object, or simply update the attributes for new data?

Is it more efficient to update attributes or just instantiate a new object?

For example:

class Position(object):
    def __init__(self, x, y, z):
        self.x = x
        self.y = y
        self.z = z

    def update_position(self, x, y, z):
        self.x = x
        self.y = y
        self.z = z

    def new_Position(self, message):
        self.update_position(message[0], message[1], message[2])

def new_Position(message):
    return Position(message[0], message[1], message[2])

Upvotes: 1

Views: 300

Answers (1)

Rik Poggi
Rik Poggi

Reputation: 29302

You shouldn't do premature optimization, the choice between an update method and some sort of factory function is mainly a design choice.

Anyway, out of curiosity, here's the disassembled code between the two calls:

>>> p = Position(1,2,3)
>>> dis.dis(p.new_position)
 11           0 LOAD_FAST                0 (self)
              3 LOAD_ATTR                0 (update_position)
              6 LOAD_FAST                1 (message)
              9 LOAD_CONST               1 (0)
             12 BINARY_SUBSCR       
             13 LOAD_FAST                1 (message)
             16 LOAD_CONST               2 (1)
             19 BINARY_SUBSCR       
             20 LOAD_FAST                1 (message)
             23 LOAD_CONST               3 (2)
             26 BINARY_SUBSCR       
             27 CALL_FUNCTION            3
             30 POP_TOP             
             31 LOAD_CONST               0 (None)
             34 RETURN_VALUE        
>>> dis.dis(new_position)
  2           0 LOAD_GLOBAL              0 (Position)
              3 LOAD_FAST                0 (message)
              6 LOAD_CONST               1 (0)
              9 BINARY_SUBSCR       
             10 LOAD_FAST                0 (message)
             13 LOAD_CONST               2 (1)
             16 BINARY_SUBSCR       
             17 LOAD_FAST                0 (message)
             20 LOAD_CONST               3 (2)
             23 BINARY_SUBSCR       
             24 CALL_FUNCTION            3
             27 RETURN_VALUE

Upvotes: 1

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