1.4. Good Engineering Practises

1.4.1. Code Language

  • import this - The Zen of Python, by Tim Peters

  • Readability counts.

  • Special cases aren't special enough to break the rules.

  • Although practicality beats purity.

  • If the implementation is hard to explain, it's a bad idea.

  • In US: The states are not administrative divisions of the country, in that their powers and responsibilities are in no way assigned to them from above by federal legislation or the Constitution; rather they exercise all powers of government not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution.

  • Political divisions of the United States are the various recognized governing entities that together form the United States – states, the District of Columbia, territories and Indian reservations.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_division

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_administrative_divisions_by_country

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_division

>>> class Obywatel:
...     def get_wojewodztwo(self):
...         pass
...
...     def get_powiat(self):
...         pass
...
...     def get_gmina(self):
...         pass
>>> class Citizen:
...     def get_voivodeship(self):
...         pass
...
...     def get_state(self):
...         pass
...
...     def get_county(self):
...         pass
...
...     def get_ceremonial_county(self):
...         pass
...
...     def get_metropolitan_county(self):
...         pass
...
...     def get_nonmetropolitan_county(self):
...         pass
...
...     def get_district(self):
...         pass
...
...     def get_civil_parish(self):
...         pass
...
>>> class Obywatel:
...     def get_PESEL(self):
...         pass
...
...     def get_NIP(self):
...         pass
>>> class Citizen:
...     def get_SSN(self):
...         ...
...
...     def get_VATEU(self):
...         pass
>>> class Obywatel:
...     def get_NIP(self):
...         pass
...
...     def get_PESEL(self):
...         pass
>>> class Citizen:
...     def get_VATEU(self):
...         pass

Stdnum https://github.com/arthurdejong/python-stdnum/tree/master/stdnum

1.4.2. Objects and instances

Creating string instance:

'' is just a syntactic sugar:

>>> name1 = 'Mark Watney'
>>> name2 = str('Mark Watney')
>>> name1 == name2
True
>>> name = 'Mark Watney'
>>> name.upper()
'MARK WATNEY'
>>> str.upper('Mark Watney')
'MARK WATNEY'

Use case:

>>> from dataclasses import dataclass
>>>
>>>
>>> @dataclass
... class Astronaut:
...     firstname: str
...     lastname: str
...
...     def say_hello(self):
...         print(f'My name... {self.firstname} {self.lastname}')
>>>
>>>
>>> jose = Astronaut('Jose', 'Jimenez')
>>> jose.say_hello()
My name... Jose Jimenez
>>>
>>> Astronaut.say_hello()
Traceback (most recent call last):
TypeError: Astronaut.say_hello() missing 1 required positional argument: 'self'
>>>
>>> Astronaut.say_hello(jose)
My name... Jose Jimenez

1.4.3. Tell - don't ask

  • Tell-Don't-Ask is a principle that helps people remember that object-orientation is about bundling data with the functions that operate on that data.

  • It reminds us that rather than asking an object for data and acting on that data, we should instead tell an object what to do.

  • This encourages to move behavior into an object to go with the data.

Bad:

>>> class Light:
...     status = 'off'
>>>
>>>
>>> light = Light()
>>> light.status = 'on'
>>> light.status = 'off'

Good:

>>> class Light:
...     status = 'off'
...
...     def switch_on(self):
...         self.status = 'on'
...
...     def switch_off(self):
...         self.status = 'off'
>>>
>>>
>>> light = Light()
>>> light.switch_on()
>>> light.switch_off()

Bad:

>>> class Hero:
...     health: int = 10
>>>
>>>
>>> hero = Hero()
>>>
>>> while hero.health > 0:
...     hero.health -= 2

Good:

>>> class Hero:
...     health: int = 10
...
...     def is_alive(self):
...         return self.health > 0
...
...     def take_damage(self, damage):
...         self.health -= damage
>>>
>>>
>>> hero = Hero()
>>>
>>> while hero.is_alive():
...     hero.take_damage(2)

1.4.4. Setters, Getters, Deleters

  • Java way: setters, getters, deleters

  • Python way: properties, reflection, descriptors

  • More information in Protocol Property

  • More information in Protocol Reflection

  • More information in Protocol Descriptor

  • In Python you prefer direct attribute access

Accessing class fields using setter and getter:

>>> class Astronaut:
...     _name: str
...
...     def set_name(self, name):
...         self._name = name
...
...     def get_name(self):
...         return self._name
>>>
>>>
>>> mark = Astronaut()
>>> mark.set_name('Mark Watney')
>>> result = mark.get_name()
>>> print(result)
Mark Watney

Problem with setters and getters:

>>> class Point:
...     _x: int
...     _y: int
...
...     def get_x(self):
...         return self._x
...
...     def set_x(self, value):
...         self._x = value
...
...     def del_x(self):
...         del self._x
...
...     def get_y(self):
...         return self._y
...
...     def set_y(self, value):
...         self._x = value
...
...     def del_y(self):
...         del self._y

Rationale for Setters and Getters:

>>> class Temperature:
...     kelvin: int
...
...     def set_kelvin(self, kelvin):
...         if kelvin < 0:
...             raise ValueError('Kelvin cannot be negative')
...         else:
...             self._kelvin = kelvin
...
>>>
>>> t = Temperature()
>>> t.set_kelvin(-1)
Traceback (most recent call last):
ValueError: Kelvin cannot be negative

Rationale for Setters and Getters habitatOS Z-Wave sensor admin:

>>> 
...
... from django.contrib import admin
... from habitat._common.admin import HabitatAdmin
... from habitat.sensors.models import ZWaveSensor
...
...
... @admin.register(ZWaveSensor)
... class ZWaveSensorAdmin(HabitatAdmin):
...     change_list_template = 'sensors/change_list_charts.html'
...     list_display = ['mission_date', 'mission_time', 'type', 'device', 'value', 'unit']
...     list_filter = ['created', 'type', 'unit', 'device']
...     search_fields = ['^date', 'device']
...     ordering = ['-datetime']
...
...     def get_list_display(self, request):
...         list_display = self.list_display
...         if request.user.is_superuser:
...             list_display = ['earth_datetime'] + list_display
...         return list_display

1.4.5. Collections Abstract Base Classes

ABC

Inherits from

Abstract Methods

Mixin Methods

Container

__contains__

Hashable

__hash__

Iterable

__iter__

Iterator

Iterable

__next__

__iter__

Reversible

Iterable

__reversed__

Generator

Iterator

send, throw

close, __iter__, __next__

Sized

__len__

Callable

__call__

Collection

Sized, Iterable, Container

__contains__, __iter__, __len__

Sequence

Reversible, Collection

__getitem__, __len__

__contains__, __iter__, __reversed__, index, and count

MutableSequence

Sequence

__getitem__, __setitem__, __delitem__, __len__, insert

Inherited Sequence methods and append, reverse, extend, pop, remove, and __iadd__

ByteString

Sequence

__getitem__, __len__

Inherited Sequence methods

Set

Collection

__contains__, __iter__, __len__

__le__, __lt__, __eq__, __ne__, __gt__, __ge__, __and__, __or__, __sub__, __xor__, and isdisjoint

MutableSet

Set

__contains__, __iter__, __len__, add, discard

Inherited Set methods and clear, pop, remove, __ior__, __iand__, __ixor__, and __isub__

Mapping

Collection

__getitem__, __iter__, __len__

__contains__, keys, items, values, get, __eq__, and __ne__

MutableMapping

Mapping

__getitem__, __setitem__, __delitem__, __iter__, __len__

Inherited Mapping methods and pop, popitem, clear, update, and setdefault

MappingView

Sized

__len__

ItemsView

MappingView, Set

__contains__, __iter__

KeysView

MappingView, Set

__contains__, __iter__

ValuesView

MappingView, Collection

__contains__, __iter__

Awaitable

__await__

Coroutine

Awaitable

send, throw

close

AsyncIterable

__aiter__

AsyncIterator

AsyncIterable

__anext__

__aiter__

AsyncGenerator

AsyncIterator

asend, athrow

aclose, __aiter__, __anext__