{DataClasses}

spend less time coding!

*New in version 3.7 (2018)

A data class is a decorator and functions for automatically adding generated special methods such as __init__() and __repr__() to user-defined classes.

A data class is a class typically containing mainly data, although there aren’t really any restrictions. It is created using the new @dataclass decorator.

What is a DataClass?

AVOID FUNCTIONS!

What Do You Think?

from dataclasses import dataclass


class NormalRole():
  """A class for holding an job role"""

  # Equivalent Constructor
  def __init__(self, title, author):
    self.job = title
    self.salary = author
    
  # have you met __repr__ before?
  # init=True, repr=True, eq=True

@dataclass
class DataClassRole:
  Job: str
  Salary: float


old_way = NormalRole("Author", 50000.00)
new_way = DataClassRole("Author", 50000.00)

print(old_way)  # What will this print?
print(new_way)	# What will this print?

old_way2 = NormalRole("Author", 50000.00)
new_way2 = DataClassRole("Author", 50000.00)

print(old_way == old_way2) # What will this print?
print(new_way == new_way2) # What will this print?

What Do You Think Will Happen?

from dataclasses import dataclass


@dataclass
class Person:
  name: str
  # what is the way to make this default to [] which is mutable (what will happen if not)?
  friends: list = []
  active: bool = True


p1 = Person('Metushelach', ['friend_a', 'friend_b'])
p2 = Person('Pat', ['friend_c', 'friend_d'])
print(p1)
print(p2)


class Person:
	self.friends = []

    def __init__(friends):
      self.freinds = friends

Type hints look better (personal opinion)
Dunder methods like __init__ are already baked in
```
__repr__, we get this out of the box
```
__eq__, out of the box as well

What Have We Learned?

sort_index for ordering
Easy access to fields, i.e. we do .foo unlike ["foo"] in dictionaries
Using 'field' for customizing the dataclass attributes
Advanced DataClass features

Demo 1

Demo 2

Dunder methods means “Double Under (Underscores)”. These are commonly used for operator overloading

NOTE:

What's New in python 3.10?

when we set @dataclass(kw_arg=True)

p1 = Person('Alan', ['friend_a', 'friend_b']) // This won't work!
# instead we'll need 
p1 = Person(name='Alan', friends=['friend_a', 'friend_b'])

when we set @dataclass(slots=True)

@dataclass(slots=True)
# Faster fetch alternative to dict! simple tasks can be 20X faster!
# so why not use every time? because it breaks when there is too much inheritance