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

The __new__() method and metaclasses

The other use case for the __new__() method is to create a metaclass to control how a class definition is built. This use of __new__() to build a class object is related to using __new__() to build a new immutable object, shown previously. In both cases, __new__() gives us a chance to make minor modifications in situations where __init__() isn't relevant.

A metaclass is used to build a class. Once a class object has been built, the class object is used to build instance objects. The metaclass of all class definitions is type. The type() function creates the class objects in an application. Additionally, the type() function can be used to reveal the class of an object.

The following is a silly example of building a new, nearly useless class directly with type() as a constructor:

Useless = type("Useless", (), {}) 

To create a new...