Book Image

Mastering Object-Oriented Python - Second Edition

By : Steven F. Lott
Book Image

Mastering Object-Oriented Python - Second Edition

By: Steven F. Lott

Overview of this book

Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a relatively complex discipline to master, and it can be difficult to see how general principles apply to each language's unique features. With the help of the latest edition of Mastering Objected-Oriented Python, you'll be shown how to effectively implement OOP in Python, and even explore Python 3.x. Complete with practical examples, the book guides you through the advanced concepts of OOP in Python, and demonstrates how you can apply them to solve complex problems in OOP. You will learn how to create high-quality Python programs by exploring design alternatives and determining which design offers the best performance. Next, you'll work through special methods for handling simple object conversions and also learn about hashing and comparison of objects. As you cover later chapters, you'll discover how essential it is to locate the best algorithms and optimal data structures for developing robust solutions to programming problems with minimal computer processing. Finally, the book will assist you in leveraging various Python features by implementing object-oriented designs in your programs. By the end of this book, you will have learned a number of alternate approaches with different attributes to confidently solve programming problems in Python.
Table of Contents (25 chapters)
Free Chapter
1
Section 1: Tighter Integration Via Special Methods
11
Section 2: Object Serialization and Persistence
17
Section 3: Object-Oriented Testing and Debugging

Summary

In this chapter, we took a step back from the details of Python to look at the SOLID design principles. These considerations are fundamental to how a stateful object should be designed. The principles provide us a useful collection of ideas for structuring an object-oriented design. It seems most useful to consider the principles in the following order:

  • Interface Segregation: Build the smallest interface to each class, refactoring to split a big class definition into smaller pieces.
  • Liskov Substitution: Be sure that any subclass can replace the parent class; otherwise, consider a composition technique instead of inheritance.
  • Open/Closed: A class should be open to extension but closed to direct modification. This requires careful consideration of what extensions are sensible for a given class.
  • Dependency Inversion: A class shouldn't have a simple, direct dependency...