Mastering Python Property Logic: Using the Same Getter and Setter for Multiple Attributes

Learn how to effectively utilize getter and setter functions in Python classes for multiple attributes, ensuring clean, reusable code with custom property behaviors.
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Mastering Python Property Logic: Using the Same Getter and Setter for Multiple Attributes

When working with classes in Python, especially ones that store attributes like Employee details, you may find yourself wanting a common approach to manage various attributes. Specifically, how can we implement getter and setter properties that apply the same logic for multiple attributes? In this post, we’ll address this problem and provide a clean, pythonic solution using property descriptors.

The Problem

Imagine you have a class representing an Employee and you want all attributes (like first name and last name) to be protected and manipulated through specific logic. You don’t want to write unique getter and setter methods for each attribute because it leads to redundancy and cluttered code.

You might want the following behaviors:

Validate that the name is a string when setting.

Apply some logic to clean (like formatting) the string values.

Prevent deletion of these attributes.

The Solution: Using Descriptors

Instead of writing multiple getters and setters, you can define a custom property-like descriptor. Here’s how you can approach it:

Step 1: Create a Descriptor Class

You will create a class called CleanableStringProperty that can manage the logic for your attributes:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 2: Implement the Class with Attributes

Now, you can use this descriptor in your Employee class (let's say Foo class for simplicity):

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 3: Test Your Implementation

Here’s how you can utilize the Foo class and ensure everything operates correctly:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 4: Making It More Flexible

If you want to make your CleanableStringProperty even more flexible, you could allow for a custom cleaning function to be passed when initializing the property:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Conclusion

By using a custom property descriptor like CleanableStringProperty, you can efficiently manage the logic for multiple attributes in your classes without duplicating code. This approach not only keeps your code clean but also adheres to the Pythonic way of handling properties.

Now it’s your turn! Go ahead and implement this pattern in your Python classes to make them more concise and maintainable.