CODEWITHSUNDEEP
python
Natey17
Natey17

Reputation: 119

Pretty way to define class functions that all call same function with different parameters

I'm writing a class that has a bunch of member functions that all call the same function with different parameters. The way I have it written right now is like:

class ExampleClass:
    def a_function(self,args):
        do_something

    def func1(self):
        return self.a_function(arg1)

    def func2(self):
        return self.a_function(arg2)
        .
        .
        .

This seems incredibly redundant and is a pain to deal with since it takes up so much space. Is this the best way to deal with class functions that all have the same structure or is there a better way to deal with this?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 77

Answers (1)

martineau
martineau

Reputation: 123453

Since functions are first class objects in Python you can create and return one inside of another. This means you could do define a helper function and use it inside the class to get rid of some of the boilerplate code:

class ExampleClass:
    def a_function(self, *args):
        print('do_something to {}'.format(args[0]))

    def _call_a_function(arg):
        def func(self):
            return self.a_function(arg)
        return func

    func1 = _call_a_function(1)
    func2 = _call_a_function(2)
    func3 = _call_a_function(3)


if __name__ == '__main__':
    example = ExampleClass()
    example.func1() # -> do_something to 1
    example.func2() # -> do_something to 2
    example.func3() # -> do_something to 3

If you're using a fairly recent version of Python, you don't even have to write the helper function because there's a built-in one named partialmethod:

from functools import partialmethod  # Requires Python 3.4+

class ExampleClass2:
    def a_function(self, *args):
        print('do_something to {}'.format(args[0]))

    func1 = partialmethod(a_function, 1)
    func2 = partialmethod(a_function, 2)
    func3 = partialmethod(a_function, 3)

Upvotes: 2

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