Many of the examples we've looked at have either been functions using atomic (or scalar) objects, or relatively simple structures built from small tuples. We can often exploit Python's immutable typing.NamedTuple as a way to build complex data structures.
One of the beneficial features of object-oriented programming is the ability to create complex data structures incrementally. In some respects, an object can be viewed as a cache for results of functions; this will often fit well with functional design patterns. In other cases, the object paradigm provides for property methods that include sophisticated calculations to derive data from an object's properties. This is also a good fit for functional design ideas.
In some cases, however, object class definitions are used statefully to create complex objects. We'll look at a number of alternatives that provide similar features without the complexities of objects with state changes. We can identify stateful...