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Clean Code in Python
Clean Code in Python

Clean Code in Python: Refactor your legacy code base

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Clean Code in Python

Pythonic Code

In this chapter, we will explore the way ideas are expressed in Python, with its own particularities. If you are familiar with the standard ways of accomplishing some tasks in programming (such as getting the last element of a list, iterating, searching, and so on), or if you come from more traditional programming languages (like C, C++, and Java), then you will find that, in general, Python provides its own mechanism for most common tasks.

In programming, an idiom is a particular way of writing code in order to perform a specific task. It is something common that repeats and follows the same structure every time. Some could even argue and call them a pattern, but be careful because they are not designed patterns (which we will explore later on). The main difference is that design patterns are high-level ideas, independent from the language (sort of), but they do...

Indexes and slices

In Python, as in other languages, some data structures or types support accessing its elements by index. Another thing it has in common with most programming languages is that the first element is placed in the index number zero. However, unlike those languages, when we want to access the elements in a different order than usual, Python provides extra features.

For example, how would you access the last element of an array in C? This is something I did the first time I tried Python. Thinking the same way as in C, I would get the element in the position of the length of the array minus one. This could work, but we could also use a negative index number, which will start counting from the last, as shown in the following commands:

>>> my_numbers = (4, 5, 3, 9)
>>> my_numbers[-1]
9
>>> my_numbers[-3]
5

In addition to getting just one element...

Context managers

Context managers are a distinctively useful feature that Python provides. The reason why they are so useful is that they correctly respond to a pattern. The pattern is actually every situation where we want to run some code, and has preconditions and postconditions, meaning that we want to run things before and after a certain main action.

Most of the time, we see context managers around resource management. For example, on situations when we open files, we want to make sure that they are closed after processing (so we do not leak file descriptors), or if we open a connection to a service (or even a socket), we also want to be sure to close it accordingly, or when removing temporary files, and so on.

In all of these cases, you would normally have to remember to free all of the resources that were allocated and that is just thinking about the best case—...

Properties, attributes, and different types of methods for objects

All of the properties and functions of an object are public in Python, which is different from other languages where properties can be public, private, or protected. That is, there is no point in preventing caller objects from invoking any attributes an object has. This is another difference with respect to other programming languages in which you can mark some attributes as private or protected.

There is no strict enforcement, but there are some conventions. An attribute that starts with an underscore is meant to be private to that object, and we expect that no external agent calls it (but again, there is nothing preventing this).

Before jumping into the details of properties, it's worth mentioning some traits of underscores in Python, understanding the convention, and the scope of attributes.

...

Iterable objects

In Python, we have objects that can be iterated by default. For example, lists, tuples, sets, and dictionaries can not only hold data in the structure we want but also be iterated over a for loop to get those values repeatedly.

However, the built-in iterable objects are not the only kind that we can have in a for loop. We could also create our own iterable, with the logic we define for iteration.

In order to achieve this, we rely on, once again, magic methods.

Iteration works in Python by its own protocol (namely the iteration protocol). When you try to iterate an object in the form for e in myobject:..., what Python checks at a very high level are the following two things, in order:

  • If the object contains one of the iterator methods—__next__ or __iter__
  • If the object is a sequence and has __len__ and __getitem__

Therefore, as a fallback mechanism, sequences...

Container objects

Containers are objects that implement a __contains__ method (that usually returns a Boolean value). This method is called in the presence of the in keyword of Python.

Something like the following:

element in container

When used in Python becomes this:

container.__contains__(element)

You can imagine how much more readable (and Pythonic!) the code can be when this method is properly implemented.

Let's say we have to mark some points on a map of a game that has two-dimensional coordinates. We might expect to find a function like the following:

def mark_coordinate(grid, coord):
if 0 <= coord.x < grid.width and 0 <= coord.y < grid.height:
grid[coord] = MARKED

Now, the part that checks the condition of the first if statement seems convoluted; it doesn't reveal the intention of the code, it's not expressive, and worst of all it calls...

Dynamic attributes for objects

It is possible to control the way attributes are obtained from objects by means of the __getattr__ magic method. When we call something like <myobject>.<myattribute>, Python will look for <myattribute> in the dictionary of the object, calling __getattribute__ on it. If this is not found (namely, the object does not have the attribute we are looking for), then the extra method, __getattr__, is called, passing the name of the attribute (myattribute) as a parameter. By receiving this value, we can control the way things should be returned to our objects. We can even create new attributes, and so on.

In the following listing, the __getattr__ method is demonstrated:

class DynamicAttributes:

def __init__(self, attribute):
self.attribute = attribute

def __getattr__(self, attr):
if attr.startswith("fallback_&quot...

Callable objects

It is possible (and often convenient) to define objects that can act as functions. One of the most common applications for this is to create better decorators, but it's not limited to that.

The magic method __call__ will be called when we try to execute our object as if it were a regular function. Every argument passed to it will be passed along to the __call__ method.

The main advantage of implementing functions this way, through objects, is that objects have states, so we can save and maintain information across calls.

When we have an object, a statement like this object(*args, **kwargs) is translated in Python to object.__call__(*args, **kwargs).

This method is useful when we want to create callable objects that will work as parametrized functions, or in some cases functions with memory.

The following listing uses this method to construct an object that...

Summary of magic methods

We can summarize the concepts we described in the previous sections in the form of a cheat sheet like the one presented as follows. For each action in Python, the magic method involved is presented, along with the concept that it represents:

Statement
Magic method
Python concept

obj[key]

obj[i:j]

obj[i:j:k]

__getitem__(key)

Subscriptable object

with obj: ... __enter__ / __exit__

Context manager

for i in obj: ...

__iter__ / __next__

__len__ / __getitem__

Iterable object

Sequence

obj.<attribute>

__getattr__

Dynamic attribute retrieval

obj(*args, **kwargs)

__call__(*args, **kwargs)

Callable object

Caveats in Python

Besides understanding the main features of the language, being able to write idiomatic code is also about being aware of the potential problems of some idioms, and how to avoid them. In this section, we will explore common issues that might cause you long debugging sessions if they catch you off guard.

Most of the points discussed in this section are things to avoid entirely, and I will dare to say that there is almost no possible scenario that justifies the presence of the anti-pattern (or idiom, in this case). Therefore, if you find this on the code base you are working on, feel free to refactor it in the way that is suggested. If you find these traits while doing a code review, this is a clear indication that something needs to change.

Mutable default arguments...

Summary

In this chapter, we have explored the main features of Python, with the goal of understanding its most distinctive features, those that make Python a peculiar language compared to the rest. On this path, we have explored different methods of Python, protocols, and their internal mechanics.

As opposed to the previous chapter, this one is more Python-focused. A key takeaway of the topics of this book is that clean code goes beyond following the formatting rules (which, of course, are essential to a good code base). They are a necessary condition, but not sufficient. Over the next few chapters, we will see ideas and principles that relate more to the code, with the goal of achieving a better design and implementation of our software solution.

With the concepts and the ideas of this chapter, we explored the core of Python: its protocols and magic methods. It should be clear...

References

The reader will find more information about some of the topics that we have covered in this chapter in the following references. The decision of how indices work in Python is based on (EWD831), which analyzes several alternatives for ranges in math and programming languages:

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Key benefits

  • Save maintenance costs by learning to fix your legacy codebase
  • Learn the principles and techniques of refactoring
  • Apply microservices to your legacy systems by implementing practical techniques

Description

Python is currently used in many different areas such as software construction, systems administration, and data processing. In all of these areas, experienced professionals can find examples of inefficiency, problems, and other perils, as a result of bad code. After reading this book, readers will understand these problems, and more importantly, how to correct them. The book begins by describing the basic elements of writing clean code and how it plays an important role in Python programming. You will learn about writing efficient and readable code using the Python standard library and best practices for software design. You will learn to implement the SOLID principles in Python and use decorators to improve your code. The book delves more deeply into object oriented programming in Python and shows you how to use objects with descriptors and generators. It will also show you the design principles of software testing and how to resolve software problems by implementing design patterns in your code. In the final chapter we break down a monolithic application to a microservice one, starting from the code as the basis for a solid platform. By the end of the book, you will be proficient in applying industry approved coding practices to design clean, sustainable and readable Python code.

Who is this book for?

This book will appeal to team leads, software architects and senior software engineers who would like to work on their legacy systems to save cost and improve efficiency. A strong understanding of Programming is assumed.

What you will learn

  • Set up tools to effectively work in a development environment
  • Explore how the magic methods of Python can help us write better code
  • Examine the traits of Python to create advanced object-oriented design
  • Understand removal of duplicated code using decorators and descriptors
  • Effectively refactor code with the help of unit tests
  • Learn to implement the SOLID principles in Python
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Length: 332 pages
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Language : English
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Table of Contents

11 Chapters
Introduction, Code Formatting, and Tools Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Pythonic Code Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
General Traits of Good Code Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
The SOLID Principles Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Using Decorators to Improve Our Code Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Getting More Out of Our Objects with Descriptors Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Using Generators Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Unit Testing and Refactoring Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Common Design Patterns Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Clean Architecture Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Other Books You May Enjoy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon Empty star icon 3.7
(3 Ratings)
5 star 33.3%
4 star 33.3%
3 star 0%
2 star 33.3%
1 star 0%
Ivan and Zorro Jan 12, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
With so many Python books out there it’s hard to know which are worthwhile, particularly if you want to move beyond basics. This book is highly recommended for this category of Python programmer. It’s a must read for people working in agile development teams. It is well organized and written, containing material not treated elsewhere, or at least not in a single volume. Writing clean code goes beyond “having good documentation”. At a certain point this good documentation becomes more of a distraction than anything, particularly in Python. Well written Python should be the documentation minimalist’s dream and that is the main idea throughout this book: how to write efficient, properly documented Python code that is easily maintainable, by ourselves and other developers. The authors are not simply talking about code linting or analyzers, it’s more like the Zen of Python. They include examples of moving from some code to better code. The focus is on the readability of code since so many developers spend their time reading scads of code to add a simple feature, but there are also many examples of interesting ways to get things done in Python.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Camila Corradi Nov 01, 2020
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
This book is great to improve OOP skills in Python. It gives you a view about what can be done in Python and good practices to follow when programming in Python. Also, the way the author involve while you are reading the book is very good and the pieces fit together nicely. My concern about the book is the lack of examples, don't get me wrong, the book has a good level of code, but I think that examples should be more didactic. Some of them, I needed to read and re-read several times to understand and get the idea.Anyway, is a great book and I really recommend it.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Aris Oct 03, 2023
Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 2
Very bad written. Some parts can be better explained
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