Overloading constructors
Overloading constructors
Hi r/Python I'm working on a script to load a number of datasets into my field format. So the submitted data
sets may not or may not have all the fields available in my dataset. So I would like to make overloaded
constructors similar to a method in Java, to accommodate the variability in the field information they have.
So something like this, although I know I can't actually do this.
def __init__(field1):
self.field1 = field1
def__init__(filed1, field2):
self.field1 = field1
self.field2 = field2
def__init__(field1, field2, field3):
self.field1 = field1
self.field2 = field2
self.field3 = field3
Thanks
5 comments
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level 1
Kopachris
3 points · 4 years ago
Python doesn't do function overloading like other languages do. Do as /u/anossov said and use default
arguments.
level 1
[deleted]
3 points · 4 years ago
In addition to the other answer, Python also has keyword arguments.
def func (opt, **kwargs):
print(kwargs)
# kwargs is a regular dictionary so
# 'if a in kwargs:'
# or
# a = kwargs.get(a, None)
# are both OK
func (12, a=1, b=2)
level 1
anossov
2 points · 4 years ago
Do missing fields have default values? If so, default arguments make the most sense:
def__init__(field1, field2=None, field3=None):
self.field1 = field1
self.field2 = field2 # will be set to None if not passed
self.field3 = field3 # will be set to None if not passed
1
Overloading constructors
level 1
bheklilr
0 points · 4 years ago
A common implementation (i.e. one used in the standard library) is to use staticmethods for multiple
constructors (which admittedly isn't quite the same as overloaded constructors):
class MyClass(object):
# The default constructor
def __init__(self, field1, field2, field3):
self.field1 = field1
self.field2 = field2
self.field3 = field3
@staticmethod
def only_field1(field1):
return MyClass(field1, None, None)
@staticmethod
def missing_field3(field1, field2):
return MyClass(field1, field2, None)
Then you would just have
example1 = MyClass('field1', 'field2', 'field3')
example2 = MyClass.missing_field3('field1', 'field2')
example3 = MyClass.only_field1('field1')
You can see this in particular with the datetime.datetime class, since it has a default constructor taking a
time representation, but there's also datetime.now and datetime.today where both have unique behavior.
In your case, since you just have 1, 2 or 3 fields you can get away with just using keyword arguments with
default values:
class MyClass(object):
def __init__(self, field1, field2=None, field3=None):
self.field1 = field1
self.field2 = field2
self.field3 = field3
level 2
donnieod
3 points · 4 years ago
I think that classmethod is the preferred way of doing this, if you look up datetime.today() and
datetime.now() they are classmethods not staticmethods. So your alternate constructors would be:
@classmethod
def only_field1(cls, field1):
return cls(field1, None, None)
@classmethod
def missing_fiels3(cls, field1, field2):
return cls(field1, field2, None)
This has the advantage of not locking in the class name so sub-classing is possible.
