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

Whole modules versus module items

There are two approaches to designing the contents of a library module. Some modules are an integrated whole, while others are more like a collection of loosely related items. When we've designed a module as a whole, it will often have a few classes or functions that are the public-facing API of the module. When we've designed a module as a collection of loosely related items, each individual class or function tends to stand alone.

We often see this distinction in the way we import and use a module. We'll look at three variations:

  • Using the import some_module command: This leads to the some_module.py module being evaluated and the resulting objects are collected into a single namespace called some_module. This requires us to use qualified names for all of the objects in the module, for example, some_module.this and some_module...