.. _examples:
``attrs`` by Example
====================
Basics
------
The simplest possible usage is:
.. doctest::
>>> import attr
>>> @attr.s
>>> Empty()
Empty()
>>> Empty() == Empty()
True
>>> Empty() is Empty()
False
So in other words: ``attrs`` is useful even without actual attributes!
But you'll usually want some data on your classes, so let's add some:
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s
By default, all features are added, so you immediately have a fully functional data class with a nice ``repr`` string and comparison methods.
.. doctest::
>>> c1 = Coordinates(1, 2)
>>> c1
Coordinates(x=1, y=2)
>>> c2 = Coordinates(x=2, y=1)
>>> c2
Coordinates(x=2, y=1)
>>> c1 == c2
False
As shown, the generated ``__init__`` method allows for both positional and keyword arguments.
If playful naming turns you off, ``attrs`` comes with serious business aliases:
.. doctest::
>>> from attr import attrs, attrib
>>> @attrs
>>> SeriousCoordinates(1, 2)
SeriousCoordinates(x=1, y=2)
>>> attr.fields(Coordinates) == attr.fields(SeriousCoordinates)
True
For private attributes, ``attrs`` will strip the leading underscores for keyword arguments:
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s
>>> C(x=1)
C(_x=1)
If you want to initialize your private attributes yourself, you can do that too:
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s
>>> C()
C(_x=42)
>>> C(23)
Traceback (most recent call last):
TypeError: __init__() takes exactly 1 argument (2 given)
An additional way of defining attributes is supported too.
This is useful in times when you want to enhance classes that are not yours (nice ``__repr__`` for Django models anyone?):
.. doctest::
>>> class SomethingFromSomeoneElse(object):
>>> SomethingFromSomeoneElse = attr.s(
>>> SomethingFromSomeoneElse(1)
SomethingFromSomeoneElse(x=1)
`Subclassing is bad for you <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MNVP9-hglc>`_, but ``attrs`` will still do what you'd hope for:
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s
>>> @attr.s
>>> @attr.s
>>> i = C(1, 2, 3)
>>> i
C(a=1, b=2, c=3)
>>> i == C(1, 2, 3)
True
>>> i.get_a()
1
The order of the attributes is defined by the `MRO <https://www.python.org/download/releases/2.3/mro/>`_.
In Python 3, classes defined within other classes are `detected <https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-3155/>`_ and reflected in the ``__repr__``.
In Python 2 though, it's impossible.
Therefore ``@attr.s`` comes with the ``repr_ns`` option to set it manually:
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s
>>> C.D()
C.D()
``repr_ns`` works on both Python 2 and 3.
On Python 3 it overrides the implicit detection.
.. _asdict:
Converting to Collections Types
-------------------------------
When you have a class with data, it often is very convenient to transform that class into a :class:`dict` (for example if you want to serialize it to JSON):
.. doctest::
>>> attr.asdict(Coordinates(x=1, y=2))
{'x': 1, 'y': 2}
Some fields cannot or should not be transformed.
For that, :func:`attr.asdict` offers a callback that decides whether an attribute should be included:
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s
>>> @attr.s
>>> attr.asdict(UserList([User("jane@doe.invalid", "s33kred"),
{'users': [{'email': 'jane@doe.invalid'}, {'email': 'joe@doe.invalid'}]}
For the common case where you want to :func:`include <attr.filters.include>` or :func:`exclude <attr.filters.exclude>` certain types or attributes, ``attrs`` ships with a few helpers:
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s
>>> attr.asdict(
{'login': 'jane'}
>>> @attr.s
>>> attr.asdict(C("foo", "2", 3),
{'x': 'foo', 'z': 3}
Other times, all you want is a tuple and ``attrs`` won't let you down:
.. doctest::
>>> import sqlite3
>>> import attr
>>> @attr.s
>>> foo = Foo(2, 3)
>>> with sqlite3.connect(":memory:") as conn:
<sqlite3.Cursor object at ...>
<sqlite3.Cursor object at ...>
>>> foo == foo2
True
Defaults
--------
Sometimes you want to have default values for your initializer.
And sometimes you even want mutable objects as default values (ever used accidentally ``def f(arg=[])``?).
``attrs`` has you covered in both cases:
.. doctest::
>>> import collections
>>> @attr.s
>>> @attr.s
>>> cp = ConnectionPool("postgres://localhost")
>>> cp
ConnectionPool(db_string='postgres://localhost', pool=deque([]), debug=False)
>>> conn = cp.get_connection()
>>> conn
Connection(socket=42)
>>> cp.free_connection(conn)
>>> cp
ConnectionPool(db_string='postgres://localhost', pool=deque([Connection(socket=42)]), debug=False)
More information on why class methods for constructing objects are awesome can be found in this insightful `blog post <http://as.ynchrono.us/2014/12/asynchronous-object-initialization.html>`_.
Default factories can also be set using a decorator.
The method receives the partially initialized instance which enables you to base a default value on other attributes:
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s
>>> C()
C(x=1, y=2)
And since the case of ``attr.ib(default=attr.Factory(f))`` is so common, ``attrs`` also comes with syntactic sugar for it:
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s
>>> C()
C(x=[])
.. _examples_validators:
Validators
----------
Although your initializers should do as little as possible (ideally: just initialize your instance according to the arguments!), it can come in handy to do some kind of validation on the arguments.
``attrs`` offers two ways to define validators for each attribute and it's up to you to choose which one suites better your style and project.
You can use a decorator:
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s
>>> C(42)
C(x=42)
>>> C(43)
Traceback (most recent call last):
ValueError: x must be smaller or equal to 42
.. doctest::
>>> def x_smaller_than_y(instance, attribute, value):
>>> @attr.s
>>> C(x=3, y=4)
C(x=3, y=4)
>>> C(x=4, y=3)
Traceback (most recent call last):
ValueError: 'x' has to be smaller than 'y'!
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s
>>> C(128)
C(x=128)
>>> C("128")
Traceback (most recent call last):
TypeError: ("'x' must be <class 'int'> (got '128' that is a <class 'str'>).", Attribute(name='x', default=NOTHING, validator=[<instance_of validator for type <class 'int'>>, <function fits_byte at 0x10fd7a0d0>], repr=True, cmp=True, hash=True, init=True, metadata=mappingproxy({}), type=None, converter=one), <class 'int'>, '128')
>>> C(256)
Traceback (most recent call last):
ValueError: value out of bounds
``attrs`` ships with a bunch of validators, make sure to :ref:`check them out <api_validators>` before writing your own:
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s
>>> C(42)
C(x=42)
>>> C("42")
Traceback (most recent call last):
TypeError: ("'x' must be <type 'int'> (got '42' that is a <type 'str'>).", Attribute(name='x', default=NOTHING, factory=NOTHING, validator=<instance_of validator for type <type 'int'>>, type=None), <type 'int'>, '42')
Check out :ref:`validators` for more details.
Conversion
----------
Attributes can have a ``converter`` function specified, which will be called with the attribute's passed-in value to get a new value to use.
This can be useful for doing type-conversions on values that you don't want to force your callers to do.
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s
>>> o = C("1")
>>> o.x
1
Check out :ref:`converters` for more details.
.. _metadata:
Metadata
--------
All ``attrs`` attributes may include arbitrary metadata in the form of a read-only dictionary.
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s
>>> attr.fields(C).x.metadata
mappingproxy({'my_metadata': 1})
>>> attr.fields(C).x.metadata['my_metadata']
1
Metadata is not used by ``attrs``, and is meant to enable rich functionality in third-party libraries.
The metadata dictionary follows the normal dictionary rules: keys need to be hashable, and both keys and values are recommended to be immutable.
If you're the author of a third-party library with ``attrs`` integration, please see :ref:`Extending Metadata <extending_metadata>`.
Types
-----
``attrs`` also allows you to associate a type with an attribute using either the *type* argument to :func:`attr.ib` or -- as of Python 3.6 -- using `PEP 526 <https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0526/>`_-annotations:
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s
>>> attr.fields(C).x.type
<class 'int'>
>>> attr.fields(C).y.type
<class 'int'>
If you don't mind annotating *all* attributes, you can even drop the :func:`attr.ib` and assign default values instead:
.. doctest::
>>> import typing
>>> @attr.s(auto_attribs=True)
>>> attr.fields(AutoC).l.type
typing.List[int]
>>> attr.fields(AutoC).x.type
<class 'int'>
>>> attr.fields(AutoC).foo.type
<class 'str'>
>>> attr.fields(AutoC).bar.type
typing.Any
>>> AutoC()
AutoC(l=[], x=1, foo='every attrib needs a type if auto_attribs=True', bar=None)
>>> AutoC.cls_var
5
The generated ``__init__`` method will have an attribute called ``__annotations__`` that contains this type information.
.. warning::
``attrs`` itself doesn't have any features that work on top of type metadata *yet*.
However it's useful for writing your own validators or serialization frameworks.
.. _slots:
Slots
-----
:term:`Slotted classes` have a bunch of advantages on CPython.
Defining ``__slots__`` by hand is tedious, in ``attrs`` it's just a matter of passing ``slots=True``:
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s(slots=True)
Immutability
------------
Sometimes you have instances that shouldn't be changed after instantiation.
Immutability is especially popular in functional programming and is generally a very good thing.
If you'd like to enforce it, ``attrs`` will try to help:
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s(frozen=True)
>>> i = C(1)
>>> i.x = 2
Traceback (most recent call last):
attr.exceptions.FrozenInstanceError: can't set attribute
>>> i.x
1
Please note that true immutability is impossible in Python but it will :ref:`get <how-frozen>` you 99% there.
By themselves, immutable classes are useful for long-lived objects that should never change; like configurations for example.
In order to use them in regular program flow, you'll need a way to easily create new instances with changed attributes.
In Clojure that function is called `assoc <https://clojuredocs.org/clojure.core/assoc>`_ and ``attrs`` shamelessly imitates it: :func:`attr.evolve`:
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s(frozen=True)
>>> i1 = C(1, 2)
>>> i1
C(x=1, y=2)
>>> i2 = attr.evolve(i1, y=3)
>>> i2
C(x=1, y=3)
>>> i1 == i2
False
Other Goodies
-------------
Sometimes you may want to create a class programmatically.
``attrs`` won't let you down and gives you :func:`attr.make_class` :
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s
>>> C2 = attr.make_class("C2", ["x", "y"])
>>> attr.fields(C1) == attr.fields(C2)
True
You can still have power over the attributes if you pass a dictionary of name: ``attr.ib`` mappings and can pass arguments to ``@attr.s``:
.. doctest::
>>> C = attr.make_class("C", {"x": attr.ib(default=42),
>>> i = C()
>>> i # no repr added!
<__main__.C object at ...>
>>> i.x
42
>>> i.y
[]
If you need to dynamically make a class with :func:`attr.make_class` and it needs to be a subclass of something else than ``object``, use the ``bases`` argument:
.. doctest::
>>> class D(object):
>>> C = attr.make_class("C", {}, bases=(D,), cmp=False)
>>> isinstance(C(), D)
True
Sometimes, you want to have your class's ``__init__`` method do more than just
the initialization, validation, etc. that gets done for you automatically when
using ``@attr.s``.
To do this, just define a ``__attrs_post_init__`` method in your class.
It will get called at the end of the generated ``__init__`` method.
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s
>>> obj = C(x=1, y=2)
>>> obj
C(x=1, y=2, z=3)
Finally, you can exclude single attributes from certain methods:
.. doctest::
>>> @attr.s
>>> C("me", "s3kr3t")
C(user='me')